Market watch: Stocks fall as investors cautious over foreign selling

Benchmark KSE-100 index drops 110.16 points.

KARACHI: The stock market traded sideways and closed lower as investors opted to stay cautious over fears of foreign selling in index heavyweights such as Lucky Cement (-1.8%).

The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index fell 0.40% or 110.16 points to end at 27,148.52 on Thursday.

“The market closed in the negative zone driven down by index heavyweights – Oil and Gas Development Company (-1.93%) and Pakistan Petroleum Limited (-1.16%) – as the US Federal Reserve’s comment that interest rates will be raised to at least 1% sent the regional markets downwards,” said Ovais Ahsan of JS Global.



The textile sector continued to decline as Nishat Mills Limited (-2.29%) and Nishat Chunian (-1.44%) dropped in anticipation of further rupee appreciation, which would negatively affect exporters. The market could test its short-term averages at 26,500, which should hold as a solid support level, Ahsan added.

Meanwhile, Fareesa Baig of Elixir Securities said “broader market sentiments followed suit, with blue chips under pressure and volumes dominated by small and mid-tier retail plays.”

She added Pakistan State Oil (+2.03%) was the silver lining, recording sharp gains following reports that the government was likely to release payments over the next few months for clearing circular debt.

Shares of financial companies traded mixed with Bank Alfalah (+0.8%) and Habib Bank (+0.7%) staying buoyant.

Trade volumes fell to 176 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 232 million.



Shares of 369 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 128 stocks closed higher, 217 declined and 24 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs9.2 billion.

Fauji Cement was the volume leader with 15.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.29 to finish at Rs17.43. It was followed by Lafarge Pakistan with 9.9 million shares, gaining Rs0.01 to close at Rs11.13 and Adamjee Insurance with 9.3 million shares, losing Rs0.21 to close at Rs44.94.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs6.9 million worth of shares, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 21^st, 2014.

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