Benchmark KSE-100 index falls 84.45 points. AFP/FILE
KARACHI: The market continued its journey in the red, as the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) benchmark-100 index ended lower for the third day in a row with caution dominating the bourse amid selling by foreign investors.
Despite a positive start, the hallmark this week, the index was unable to ride high with the intra-day slump taking it in the negative. Resistance, however, meant the benchmark did not fall too much.
At close, the KSE-100 index was down 84.45 points or 0.24% and ended at 35,461.58.
JS Global Analyst Ahmed Saeed Khan said the index took a roller coaster ride where it remained strong till midday. “The market initially responded to the positive triggers but foreign selling shook investors’ confidence in the second half,” said Khan.
“The cement sector responded to the drop in international coal prices as the sector opened positive and remained till midday. Top scripts in the cement sector were Lucky Cement (+1.35%), Attock Cement Private Limited (+1.05%) and Power Cement (+0.29%),” Khan added.
“The pharmaceutical sector remained depressed, ending its positive streak, where biggest laggards of the sector were Abbott Laboratories (-2.13%) and Searle Company (-2.01%).
Meanwhile, Topline Securities Analyst Mohammad Rizwan said major profit taking was witnessed in MCB Bank, Packages Limited and K-Electric Limited which were down by 2.5 to 4.6%.
“Traded volume contracted by 24%, whereas the value declined by 17%.
“Major activity was witnessed in mid cap stocks like K-Electric Limited, Fatima Fertilizer Bin Qasim Limited, Dewan Cement Limited and Inter Steel Limited,” he noted.
Trade volumes decreased to 210.5 million shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 277.8 million shares.
Shares of 392 companies were traded on Wednesday. At the end of the day 161 stocks closed higher, 215 declined while 16 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs10.5 billion.
K-Electric Limited was the volume leader with 17.3 million shares losing Rs0.27 to finish at Rs8.25. It was followed by Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim with 13.4 million shares gaining Rs1.38 to close at Rs64.07 and Dewan Cement with 8.77 million shares gaining Rs0.07 to close at Rs14.47.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs2 billion during the trade session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 20th, 2015.
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