The stock market plummeted more than two per cent on Wednesday as concerns grew that the United States may cut aid to Pakistan after Osama bin Laden was found at a place near Islamabad.
The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share index fell 2.38 per cent or 284.9 points to end at 11,672.05 points.
“Anxiety within the market was propagated on fear of US Congress proposing suspension of aid to Pakistan,” said Elixir Securities equity dealer Sara Shahid.
The news of capital injection into the energy sector to ease the circular debt did lift the market but only for the first hour of trade. Pakistan State Oil released Rs24 billion to Attock Refinery, of which Rs15 billion was paid to the Oil and Gas Development Company. A day earlier, Pakistan State Oil received Rs89.1 billion from power-producing companies.
Pakistan State Oil was the only stock that defied the slump and rose Rs1.26 to close at Rs274.46. Interestingly, despite some foreign selling local participation was seen across the board at current levels. Trade volumes rose to 89.1 million shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 50.7 million shares.
Among textiles, Nishat Mills continued to be the major loser as it fell 3.54 per cent on rumorus that international buyers were pushing for a revision in prices amid a decline in international cotton prices, added Shahid.
Shares of 360 companies were traded on Wednesday. At the end of the day, 39 stocks closed higher, 248 declined and 73 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs3.51 billion.
Despite blue-chip stocks available at steep discounts, investors continued to follow low-priced scrips, according to Topline Securities equity dealer Samar Iqbal.
Lotte Pakistan PTA was the volume leader with 14.2 million shares, losing Rs0.79 to finish at Rs15.17. It was followed by Silkbank with 4.31 million shares, gaining Rs0.09 to close at Rs2.59 and Jahangir Siddiqui and Company with 4.07 million shares, declining Rs0.7 to close at Rs4.98.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 5th, 2011.
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