K-Electric Limited continued to be the volume leader with 21 million shares, gaining Rs0.17 to finish at Rs7.24. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
KARACHI:
The index opened on a mixed not before losing momentum mid-way, plunging 0.75% with oil names mainly Oil and Gas Development (OGDC PA -2.1%) and Pakistan Petroleum (PPL PA -0.9%) under duress on reported local institutional selling.
At the end of the day, the Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index fell 0.37% or 108.46 points to end at 28,842.92.
The benchmark index saw some steady recovery before dropping down again, said Jawwad Aboobakar of Elixir Securities.
“Second-tier names to the likes of Avanceon (AVN PA +4.9%), Highnoon Laboratories (HINOON PA +5%) and Glaxo SmithKline (GLAXO PA +3.47%) hit their respective upper price limits.
“Investor interest was also apparent in Pakistan State Oil (PSO PA +0.35%), with the company expected to announce a stock dividend in their upcoming annual result due in July, while the market continues to take a bet on possible measures by govt to manage energy sector receivables,” he said.
“We expect the market to trade volatile before the federal budget that is expected to be announced in the first week of June. Investors should opt to stay long in fundamentally strong and undervalued plays with BAFL, HBL, NBP, KEL, PSO, POL and NML,” Aboobakar suggested.
Trade volumes rose to 134 million shares compared with Monday’s tally of 111 million shares.
Shares of 366 companies were traded on Tuesday. At the end of the day, 145 stocks closed higher, 199 declined while 22 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs6.9 billion.
K-Electric Limited continued to be the volume leader with 21 million shares, gaining Rs0.17 to finish at Rs7.24. It was followed by Hascol Petroleum Limited with 13 million shares, losing Rs0.87 to close at Rs67.78 and the Bank of Punjab with 8 million shares, losing Rs0.17 to close at Rs9.55.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs382 million, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 21st, 2014.
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