Market watch: Bear run continues due to uncertainty, KSE-100 loses 535 points

Benchmark index decreases 1.29% to settle at 40,958.53

KARACHI: The KSE-100 index remained bearish throughout the trading session on Tuesday during which it hit an intra-day low of 738.18 points. It extended the losses from the previous day, when the index lost over 500 points.

The stock market started the day with minor fluctuations but soon succumbed to the selling pressure in the wake of political uncertainty due to recent protests across the country over a court ruling in a blasphemy case.

Negative sentiments were reinforced by the economic challenges as there was no announcement about China’s immediate financial support for Pakistan. Earlier, investors expected Beijing to agree on a substantial assistance to help Pakistan address its external-sector woes.

Moreover, during the day, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) revealed that data of a majority of the country’s banks had been hacked. This, along with last week’s news of $6 million being stolen through cyber-attacks, led commercial banks struck 166 points off the index, the highest among all sectors.



At the end of trading, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a decrease of 535.44 points or 1.29% to settle at 40,958.53.

Elixir Securities' analyst Murtaza Jafar said in line with the initial view, the benchmark KSE-100 index continued to trade under pressure and closed below the 41,000 psychological level.

He said the construction and material sector was the biggest laggard with Maple Leaf Cement (-5%), DG Khan Cement (-4.79%) and Cherat Cement (-4.98%) closing down for the second consecutive day.

“Going forward, investors will keep a close watch on news flow emerging out of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), along with the MSCI semi-annual review due on November 13,” the analyst said.



Overall, trading volumes increased to 230.4 million shares compared with Friday's tally of 214.1 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs9.7 billion.

Shares of 353 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 85 stocks closed higher, 260 declined and 8 remained unchanged.

Pak Elektron was the volume leader with 24.6 million shares, gaining Rs0.99 to close at Rs31.78. It was followed by Engro Polymer with 15.8 million shares, gaining Rs0.12 to close at Rs38.08 and Lotte Chemical with 14.5 million shares, losing Rs0.37 to close at Rs17.89.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs69.7 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.