Market watch : Stocks fall in lacklustre session

Benchmark index down 37 points.

KARACHI:

Stocks fell on Thursday after spending most of the day on the neutral line as investors opted to book profits at higher levels.

The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index fell 0.3 per cent or 37.15 points to end at 12,330.14 point level.

Attock Refinery led the fall with the stock plummeting to its lower limit as rumours about removal of deemed duty led to panic selling, said Elixir Securities equity dealer Sibtain Mustafa.

Oil stocks followed course to end lower on a day with lower volumes as overall market lacked any triggers, added Mustafa.

Trade volumes fell 26 per cent to 112 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 151 million shares.

Oil companies Pakistan Oilfields lost Rs1.62, Pakistan Petroleum shed Rs1.3 and Oil and Gas Development Company closed Rs0.58 down.

Investors also turned bearish on news that Federal Board of Revenue introducing Computerised National Identity Card Numbers as National Tax Number for tax registration purposes. The tax regulator is working hard to achieve revenue target of Rs2.1 trillion set for fiscal 2012, up 23.5 per cent from the current year.

Foreign institutional investors were rumoured sellers in fertiliser stocks due to uncertainty of gas supply to plants from the Sui Network while locals were seen active in third tier stocks.

Foreigners were net sellers of Rs265 million during the trade session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Shares of 348 companies were traded on Thursday. At the end of the day 132 stocks closed higher, 134 declined while 82 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs3.52 billion.

Jahangir Siddiqui and Company was the volume leader with 12.4 million shares gaining Rs0.5 to finish at Rs8.03. It was followed by Summit Bank with 9.23 million shares firming Rs0.14 to close at Rs4.06 and Arif Habib Corporation with 8.04 million shares increasing Rs0.8 to close at Rs24.63.



Published in The Express Tribune, June 10th, 2011.