Stocks sink below 10,000 points on flood worries

Stocks tumbled for the second day running on Tuesday, falling below the 10,000-point level as investors remained cautious.

The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) benchmark 100-share index ended 1.34 per cent or 133.88 points lower at 9,892.32.

“There was continued profit-taking on the back of flood-related concerns,” said Topline Securities equity dealer Samar Iqbal.

The ministry of finance and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have already hinted that this year’s GDP growth target of 4.5 per cent will likely be missed on account of possible significant devastation to the agriculture sector, which makes up more than 21 per cent of the GDP.

Trade volumes firmed to 94.2 million shares compared with Monday’s tally of 80 million shares.

Shares of 373 companies were traded on Tuesday. At the end of the day, 116 stocks closed higher, 232 declined and 25 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs3.39 trillion.

With the market down by over 5.95 per cent after the interest rate hike on July 30 and a 4.1 per cent drop in the last two sessions, “one cannot rule out the possibility of a pullback as we near the weekend,” said Elixir Securities equity dealer Faisal Bilwani.

Lucky Cement, the largest cement maker in the country, announced below-expectation earnings which dragged the stock to close down 1.6 per cent.

Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (OGDCL) plummeted 2.6 per cent after Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) announced that gas supply from the Qadirpur field has been suspended. The blue-chip company will announce its earnings on Thursday.

Mixed sentiments prevailed in financial sector scrips, as National Bank of Pakistan inched up 0.3 per cent at the closing, while United Bank Limited closed marginally down over rumours of local fund selling.

Amtex Limited was the volume leader with 12.95 million shares gaining Rs0.79 to finish at Rs19.24. It was followed by Al-Meezan Mutual with 11.2 million shares closing unchanged at Rs7.01 and Arif Habib Securities with 8.13 million shares losing Rs1.42 to close at Rs29.17.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 11^th, 2010.