Market watch: With selling in bank stocks, KSE-100 falls 323 points

Benchmark index decreases 0.71% to close at 45,478.63

KARACHI: A day after the KSE-100 index broke its losing streak, stocks returned to the red on Wednesday as selling by foreign investors in index-heavy bank shares dented the sentiment and dragged the benchmark index below 45,500 points.

After carrying on the positive momentum from Tuesday, the KSE-100 inched past 46,000 points before selling emerged at higher levels. Investors chose to book profits amid uncertainty ahead of the budget announcement next week and the index lost close to 575 points.

However by the day's close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a decrease of 323.10 points or 0.71% to settle at 45,478.63.

Elixir Securities' analyst Ali Raza said equities resumed their decline after Tuesday's hiatus with the benchmark index shedding 323 points.



"The day kicked off on a positive note followed by institutional selling in index-heavy names that dragged the KSE-100 into the red zone. Foreigners were reported sellers in index-heavy Habib Bank (HBL, -3.2%) and Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC, -0.5%) while select fertiliser and cement stocks succumbed to the selling pressure from local investors," Raza said.

Many investors patiently awaited earnings announcement from United Bank (UBL, -0.2%) during the day, but the numbers were released right after the market's closure with earnings significantly below estimates as the bank booked a one-off pension cost of Rs6.4 billion, the analyst said.



Overall, trading volumes increased to 156 million shares compared with Tuesday's tally of 147.5 million.

Shares of 382 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 115 stocks closed higher, 249 declined while 18 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs8.4 billion.

K-Electric was the volume leader with 11.2 million shares, losing Rs0.10 to close at Rs7. It was followed by The Bank of Punjab with 8.6 million shares, gaining Rs0.19 to close at Rs9.54 and Fauji Cement with 8.4 million shares, losing Rs0.20 to close at Rs29.59.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs38.5 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.