Market watch: KSE-100 continues to bleed, ends below 45,200

Benchmark index decreases 0.64% to close at 45,196.37

KARACHI: The KSE-100 continued to lose ground on Wednesday as index-heavy automobile, cement and bank stocks plummeted with most closing in the red.

Uncertainty on the political and economic fronts contributed to the negative sentiment, dragging the index below the 45,200 level.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 Index finished with a decrease of 292.49 points or 0.64% to settle at 45,196.37.



JS Research’s Maaz Mulla said the bearish trend can be attributed to political uncertainty surrounding upcoming general elections.

“Uncertainty continues to haunt investors,” said Mulla in a market-close comment. “On the economic front, CPI inflation clocked in at 3.68% YoY for April-2018 as compared to 3.25% last month. Traded volumes plunged by 47% day-on-day to 131 million shares, while value traded dropped to $45 million.

“Major heavyweights namely HBL (-1.86%), UBL (-2.05%), OGDC (-0.97%), Lucky Cement (-1.19%) and ENGRO (-1.00%) cumulatively contributed a negative 155 points to the index.

“BYCO (-1.20%), from the refinery sector, declared its 9-month result for FY18, where the company posted consolidated EPS of Rs0.51, with no cash payout. Mixed sentiments were witnessed in the cement sector where Lucky Cement (-1.19%) and DG Khan Cement (-0.82%) closed negative, while on the flipside Cherat Cement Company Limited (+1.22%) and Fauji Cement Company Limited (+0.35%) closed positive.

“We expect market to exhibit volatility in the coming sessions due to overall political ambiguities.” He added.



Shares of 371 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 120 stocks closed higher, 230 declined while 21 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs8.6 billion.

Lotte Chemicals was the volume leader with 15.1 million shares, gaining Rs0.39 to close at Rs11.66. It was followed by Bank of Punjab with 14.4 million shares, losing Rs0.25 to close at Rs12.21 and Bank Alfalah with 10.8 million shares, gaining Rs0.11 to close at Rs51.98.

Overall, trading volumes decreased to 131 million shares compared with Monday's tally of 249 million.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs142 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.