Benchmark index decreases 0.68% to settle at 40,848.53. PHOTO: REUTERS
Analysts had previously termed the outgoing week as a rollover week when investors would offload stocks bought earlier at attractive valuations.
In addition to this, absence of positive triggers to guide market's direction also weighed on investor sentiment and spread pessimism for the rest of the day.
Automobile, financial and exploration and production sectors sparked selling pressure and most of the stocks in these sectors recorded losses.
Earlier, trading began on a positive note, however, the bourse failed to sustain the rise and the first session remained largely range bound. The index still managed to end the session with a gain of 62 points.
The second session again began on an optimistic note, however, subdued investor sentiment, coupled with a lack of positive triggers, triggered a selling spree, which continued till the end of the session and dragged the market down.
At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a decrease of 279.26 points, or 0.68%, to settle at 40,848.53.
A report of Arif Habib Limited stated that the market moved both ways, posting a high and low of +162 points and -401 points respectively and ending the session down by 279 points.
"Month-end closing met the anticipated flows from institutions that created selling pressure on the bourse," it said.
Oil and gas marketing companies, exploration and production, power and cement sectors came under pressure. Even though Maple Leaf Cement managed to hit its upper circuit, it could not hold ground for long and the stock dropped significantly. However, it was positive by the close.
The technology sector led the volume with trading in 49.2 million shares, followed by cement companies (35.7 million) and oil and gas marketing firms (35.5 million).
Among individual stocks, WorldCall Telecom led the volume with 31.8 million shares changing hands, followed by Unity Foods (22.6 million) and Hascol (R) (22.4 million), the report added.
JS Global analyst Danish Ladhani said equities closed the week on a negative note with the benchmark KSE-100 index shedding 279 points and closing at 40,848.
"The market remained range bound throughout the day due to the year-end rollover week," he said.
HBL (-0.9%), MCB (-1.1%), Oil and Gas Development Company (-1.6%), Dawood Hercules (-2.2%), Fauji Fertiliser (-1.6%), Bank AL Habib (-1.1%), Engro Fertilisers (-0.8%) and Lucky Cement (-0.9%) contributed to the negative close.
Traded value stood at $61 million, up 19% and volume came in at 267 million shares, up 13%.
"However, we expect the market to trade sideways in the short term," the analyst added.
Overall, trading volumes increased to 267.6 million shares compared with Thursday's tally of 236.8 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs9.49 billion.
Shares of 355 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 112 stocks closed higher, 221 declined and 22 remained unchanged.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 31.83 million shares, gaining Rs0.11 to close at Rs1.38. It was followed by Hascol (R) with 22.72 million shares, gaining Rs0.64 to close at Rs10.18 and Unity Foods with 22.68 million shares, losing Rs0.28 to close at Rs15.69.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs88 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ