Market watch: Stocks witness second day of heavy selling

International developments bear heavy on local investors.


Our Correspondent April 16, 2013
KSE benchmark 100-share index slid 0.88% or 162.63 points to end at the 18,361.87 points level.

KARACHI:


Pakistani stocks continued to slide on the second consecutive day of trading, after a dim outlook in international commodity and stock markets led to profit-taking across the board in local scrips.


“Dismal quarter-end earnings announcements, economic uncertainty on falling foreign exchange reserves after International Monetary Fund repayments, and circular debt issues in Pakistan’s energy sector acted as a catalyst in boosting bearish sentiments at the Karachi Stock Exchange,” reported Ahsan Mehanti, analyst at Arif Habib Corp.

The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index slid 0.88% or 162.63 points to end at the 18,361.87 points level. Trade volumes rose to 184 million shares, compared with Monday’s tally of 153 million shares. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs6.46 billion.

Foreign institutional investors were buyers of Rs721.80 million and sellers of Rs298.34 million, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

“Stocks were seen under pressure from the opening bell, after earning announcements from the Attock Group disappointed investors, pushing down Pakistan Oil Fields, Attock Refinery, Attock Petroleum and  National Refinery,” reported Jawwad Aboobakar from Elixir Securities. “A significant drop in international crude oil prices contributed to the weaknesses of the energy sector,” he added.

“Engro Corp saw an extension of yesterday’s selling [spree] on reports of insufficient gas supply to plants. Volumes were seen in cements, as investors expect coal prices to fall, following decking commodity prices.”

Shares of 350 companies were traded on Tuesday. At the end of the day, 87 stocks closed higher, 222 declined, while 41 remained unchanged. Pak Elektron was the volume leader with 9.73 million shares, gaining Rs1.00 to finish at Rs13.04. It was followed by Maple Leaf Cement with 6.64 million shares, gaining Rs0.41 to close at Rs17.99; and TRG Pakistan with 5.90 million shares, gaining Rs0.29 to close at Rs8.30.

“Banking heavyweights MCB Bank and United Bank were favoured by foreign investors, with volumes of 0.5 million and 1.3 million shares traded respectively,” added Mujtaba Barakzai, analyst at JS Global Capital.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 17th, 2013.

Like Business on Facebook to stay informed and join in the conversation.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ