Market Watch: Bulls stumble as finance ministry remains tight-lipped

Benchmark KSE-100 index sheds 86 points.

KARACHI:

The stock exchange closed red on Wednesday, as investors grew restless and chose to book profits after failing to obtain any official signal related to a relaxation on the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) regime.

The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index lost 0.62% or 86.16 points to end at the 13,816.96 point level.

Investors expected the finance minister to give some indication as to official progress in regard of the CGT amnesty during his meeting with KSE officials on Tuesday; but those eagerly awaiting good news returned empty-handed. Rumours are now circulating in the market that the CGT amnesty will not be implemented before the budget, and investors are growing jittery in response.

Oil and fertiliser scrips took a heavy battering, as institutional interest and foreign participation in oil remains thin and diminished quarterly earnings for the fertiliser sector are expected because of low off-take due to the government’s sale of urea at lower prices, said Elixir Securities Analyst Faisal Bilwani.

Trade volumes surged to 511.29 million shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 290.42 million shares. The value of shares traded during the day rose to Rs9.09 billion.

Shares of 376 companies were traded on Tuesday. At the end of the day 150 stocks closed higher, 148 declined while 78 remained unchanged.

The cement sector had another field day at the exchange, with most small-cap stocks hitting new highs. Lucky Cement closed up 0.6%, while DG Khan Cement added 1.2% to its stock value.

Fauji Cement was the volume leader with 74.36 million shares gaining an impressive 15.32% or Rs0.95 to finish at Rs7.15. It was followed by Lafarge Pakistan Cement with 62.60 million shares gaining a healthy 9.63% or Rs0.49 to close at Rs5.58, and Azgard Nine with 40.97 million shares gaining a tidy 5.57% or Rs0.52 to close at Rs9.86.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs126.10 million, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 12^th, 2012.