Market Watch: Bourse falls on across the board selling

KSE’s benchmark 100-share index declines 88 points.

KARACHI:

The stock market witnessed a breather from the recent upward spree on Thursday as investors opted to book profits.

The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index fell 0.7 per cent or 87.75 points to end at the 12,515.92 point level.

Index giant Oil and Gas Development Company led the way as investors opted to sell after the company posted lower-than-expected earnings, said analysts. The stock fell 2.12% to close at Rs162.30 after it announced below par half-year earnings per share of Rs9.67 along with second interim cash payout of Rs1.5 per share.

Nishat Power closed at its lower limit of 5% after it announced 30% decline in earnings per share to Rs2.39.

Overall, majority sectors witnessed profit taking with banking taking the lead as MCB Bank fell 2.5% to continue its slide following its dismal result announcement, said Elixir Securities equity dealer Sibtain Mustafa.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs122 million worth of shares, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Engro continued to show resilience against the broader trend and gained 0.4% after the company lowered its fertiliser di-ammonia phosphate (DAP) prices which investors’ took as a sign of company getting gas on its Enven plant, further said Mustafa.

Trade volumes fell to 178 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 272 million shares.

Shares of 350 companies were traded on Thursday. At the end of the day 112 stocks closed higher, 160 declined while 78 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs3.55 billion.

Jahangir and Siddiqui and Company was the volume leader with 41.02 million shares gaining Rs0.62 to finish at Rs10.37. It was followed by Azgard Nine with 18.16 million shares firming Rs0.34 to close at Rs7.45 and Fatima Fertilizer with 10.02 million shares losing Rs0.16 to close at Rs23.84.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2012.