Market watch: KSE-100 falls despite emergence of political clarity

Benchmark index decreases 191 points to settle at 42,446.56

KARACHI: The KSE-100 index continued to lose ground for the third consecutive session on Wednesday despite some clarity on the political front and in the absence of major positive triggers.

Investor sentiments remained subdued as many awaited the formation of new government at the centre.

Earlier, trading began on a positive note and the index climbed over 200 points in initial hours. However, weak investor sentiments wiped out the gains later.

Cement stocks fell following recent announcement of corporate results which were below expectations. Automobile and fertiliser stocks were major losers as big names in the sectors were in the red.



At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a decrease of 191.03 points or 0.45% to settle at 42,446.56.

Elixir Securities' analyst Murtaza Jafar said equities were marginally negative with the benchmark KSE-100 index settling below 42,500.

"The market opened and traded in the positive zone in early trading when investors cheered a 20% bonus share announcement along with FY18 results by Attock Petroleum (+5%) and 25% bonus share issue by Attock Refinery (+5%)," the analyst said.

However, later the index failed to sustain the momentum after disappointing results of Pakistan Oilfields (-0.8%), Attock Cement (-4.1%) and International Steels (-2.3%).

Volume charts were dominated by Pak Elektron (-4.29%) with 8.17 million shares changing hands.

"On the political front, a PTI candidate won the election for National Assembly speaker which, despite being in line with expectations, could not lift spirits in the broader market," Jafar added.



Overall, trading volumes decreased to 145 million shares compared with Monday's tally of 163 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs8.5 billion.

Shares of 362 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 110 stocks closed higher, 238 declined while 14 remained unchanged.

Unity Foods was the volume leader with 8.5 million shares, gaining Rs1.78 to close at Rs39.56. It was followed by Lotte Chemical with 8.2 million shares, losing Rs0.29 to close at Rs14.29 and Pak Elektron Limited with 8.2 million shares, losing Rs1.63 to close at Rs36.37.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs224.6 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.