Market watch: Downslide continues as HBL dampens investors' mood

KSE-100 index loses 741.14 points, closes at 41,233.08

KARACHI: The stock market continued its downward journey on Tuesday as volumes stood thin and the index ended another session in the red.

The KSE-100 maintained a steady decline since the open, plunging 921 points in intra-day trading, as news of Habib Bank Limited's (HBL) withdrawal from New York and US authorities' move to impose hefty penalties on the bank dampened investor sentiment. Although the KSE-100 recovered slightly, it still closed negative.

At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a decrease of 741.14 points or 1.77% at 41,233.08 points.

According to Elixir Securities, Pakistan equities dropped further with the benchmark index shedding another 1.8% in listless trading.

The mood remained dampened as index-heavy HBL (-5%) closed limit down for the second straight session after the US regulator announced that it was seeking to impose a heavy fine on the bank.

Over 1.5 million shares traded off-market with most volumes going through at Rs155 per share, 21% below Tuesday's lower limit and 29% below Friday's close.



"The wider market also carried the bearish momentum and skidded lower with general lack of interest both from institutional and retail investors that culminated in dismal volumes of 130 million shares on the KSE All-share Index," stated Elixir.

"(We are) seeing choppy trading to continue on lower overall activity as investors will likely trade cautiously and wait for the market to find a stable ground during remaining days of this short week," the report added.

JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said the market saw a lacklustre session, punctuated with low volumes and an overall negative sentiment.

Adamjee Insurance (-3.67%) declared its results for 1H2017, posting earnings per share of Rs3.03 and dividend per share of Rs1.5. Sui Southern Gas Company (+2.34%) and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (+1.68%) closed in the green zone for the second consecutive day amid a declining market.

Commercial banks had a heavy impact on the index, led by negativity in HBL (-5%) as other banks started tumbling afterwards. Total contribution from the sector was negative 288 points, with United Bank (-2.02%) and MCB Bank (-2.54%) among other major losers.

Negativity in heavyweight stocks such as HBL and Mari Petroleum (-5%) in the midst of bearish sentiment (led by political factors) is expected to add to the market woes.

“We expect bearish momentum to persist for the time being and recommend investors to sell on strength,” Mulla added.



Overall, trading volumes rose to 130 million shares compared with Monday's tally of 103 million.

Shares of 380 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 61 stocks closed higher, 306 declined while 13 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs5.9 billion.

TRG Pakistan was the volume leader with 15.9 million shares, losing Rs1.70 to close at Rs34.47. It was followed by Azgard Nine with 13.8 million shares, losing Rs1 to close at Rs13.89 and Sui Southern Gas Company with 7.7 million shares, gaining Rs0.88 to close at Rs38.46.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs182 million during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.