Engro Corp (Engro PA -4.5%) had a rough day on rumours of possible gas supply issues with company’s urea plant while reports of selling by a local institution also did the rounds. PHOTO: PPI/FILE
KARACHI: The stock market remained bearish on the first day of the week and the last day of trading before Eid holidays.
The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index fell 0.8% or 175.61 points to end at 21,599.78 points.
“Equities slipped further to close near 21,500 ahead of Eid holidays. Investors were very much in holiday mood with lack of interest obvious from the day’s turnover that locked in at less than $20 million on the KSE-100, (levels) last seen in January this year,” said Faisal Bilwani of Elixir Securities.
Engro Corp (Engro PA -4.5%) had a rough day on rumours of possible gas supply issues with company’s urea plant while reports of selling by a local institution also did the rounds. Fauji Cement led the volumes and closed little changed ahead of quarterly earnings announcement on Monday while Lucky Cement (LUCK PA +0.5%) closed marginally positive, Bilwani said.
“MCB Bank (MCB PA -1.9%) … brought negativity to the entire banking sector with the stock now down almost 20% from its recent peak in late September,” he added.
“Trading activity at the local bourse remained lacklustre with Eid holidays just around the corner. Investors preferred to stay on the sidelines, though some interest was witnessed in specific banking and fertiliser stocks on the basis of year-end results,” said Mujtaba Barakzai of JS Global.
“Overall, the benchmark KSE-100 index closed down 176 points (-0.8%) at 21,599. Lack of interest ahead of the holidays is reflected in the dismally low volumes,” he added.
Trade volumes fell to a paltry 61 million shares compared with Friday’s tally of 92 million shares.
Shares of 299 companies were traded on Monday. At the end of the day, 105 stocks closed higher, 167 declined and 27 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs2 billion.
Sui Southern Gas Company was the volume leader with 11.3 million shares gaining Rs0.48 to finish at Rs25.55. It was followed by Pak Elektron Limited with 3.9 million shares losing Rs0.63 to close at Rs2.3 and Fauji Cement with 3.7 million shares losing Rs0.01 to close at Rs10.52.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs143 million worth of shares, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 15th, 2013.
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