Market watch: KSE-100 plunges 446.59 points to finish below 49,000

Benchmark KSE 100-share Index falls 0.9%

KARACHI: Pakistan equities closed the first day of the week in the red on selling in the final one hour of trading that took the KSE-100 below 49,000.

After opening positive, the benchmark-100 index nosedived to lose as much as 510 points in intra-day trading as concerns over security and tighter regulations deterred investors.

At close on Monday, the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE 100-share Index finished with a fall of 0.90% or 446.59 points to end at 48,929.12.

According to Elixir Securities, stocks traded listless in the morning and struggled for direction, resulting in benchmark KSE-100 Index trading in a narrow range and hopping between green and red for most part of the day. Notable index names then succumbed to selling pressure and dragged the KSE-100 Index below 49,000 level.



“Declines were led by Engro Corp (ENGRO PA -2.6%) as management's attempt over the weekend to clarify its position on possible future investments following payout curtailment on Friday failed to counter investors’ disappointment,” said analyst Ali Raza.

“Dawood Hercules (DAWH PA -4.7%) came second in line in terms of contribution to losses, followed by Hub Power (HUBC PA -2%) and Nishat Mills (NML PA -4.4%) that witnessed profit-taking post their earnings announcements,” he said.

“It wasn't a good day either for sideboards as most speculative plays closed either limit down or lower.

“Meanwhile, Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC PA +4.3%) weathered the general downtrend and closed higher on recommendation of additional allowance of UFG by a reputable advisory firm.”



Overall, market witnessed relatively dull activity as volumes and value on KSE-100 Index both saw a dip of 17% and 25%, respectively, versus last week's average, Raza added.

JS Global analyst Nabeel Haroon said volatility prevailed during the first half of the trading session; whereas heavy profit taking was witnessed in the market during the second half of the day.

“Banking sector, however, closed higher, as the sector heavy weights HBL (+1.2%) and UBL (+1.5%) gained to close in the green zone,” said Haroon.

“Profit taking to some extent was witnessed in the cement sector, as sector heavyweights DGKC (-2.0%), MLCF (-2.7%), LUCK (-0.3%) and POWER (-5.0%) lost value to close in the red zone,” he said.

“NML (-4.4%) in the textile sector lost value to close in the red zone as the company declared its 1HFY17 result,” said Haroon, adding that the company posted EPS of Rs7.25/share with no cash payout, which was slightly below market expectation.



“HUBC (-2.0%) in the power sector lost value to close in the red zone as the company declared its 1HFY17 result; posting EPS of Rs4.38/share with an interim dividend of Rs1.50/share, which was slightly below street estimate.

“Moving forward, we expect volatility to persist in the market and recommend investors to stay cautious,” he added.

Trading volumes fell to 344 million shares compared with Friday’s tally of 373 million.

Shares of 433 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 120 stocks closed higher, 300 declined while 13 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs14.7 billion.



Power Cement Limited was the volume leader with 26.2 million shares, losing Rs1.14 to close at Rs21.69. It was followed by Sui South Gas Company with 21.3 million shares, gaining Rs1.76 to close at Rs41.93 and K-Electric Limited with 17.9 million shares, losing 0.21 to close at Rs9.78.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs367 million during the trading session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.