Market watch: Index takes another hit as political crisis persists
Benchmark KSE-100 index falls 352.41 points.
KARACHI:
The political impasse continued to affect the stock exchange as the index shed over 350 points to end in the red zone on the first day of the week.
The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index fell 1.22% or 352.41 points to end at 28,519.34
Elixir Securities analyst Harris Ahmed Batla said Pakistan equities closed in the red again with volumes remaining low.
“Volumes remained low as investors preferred to wait for clarity on the political front while index heavy Oil and Gas Development Co (OGDC) -2.4%, MCB Bank (MCB) -1.7% and Lucky Cement (LUCK) -3.2% hurt the index on news that South African regulators will start an anti-dumping probe.”
Batla said rupee sinking against the greenback also raised concerns, keeping investors sidelined from taking advantage of attractive valuations at the current levels.
JS Global analyst Ovais Ahsan said political quagmire remained an overwhelming concern for investors as the market remained bound on a southward journey.
According to Ahsan, the market is expected to remain volatile with a negative bias as politics will decide on ultimate direction.
Trade volumes increased to 82 million shares compared with Friday’s tally of 68 million.
Shares of 284 companies were traded on Monday. Share prices of 196 companies declined, 70 closed higher while 18 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs3.98 billion.
Pakistan Elektron Limited was the volume leader with 18.8 million shares, gaining Rs0.93 to close at Rs30.80. It was followed by the Bank of Punjab with 6.8 million shares, declining Rs0.04 to close at Rs8.00 and Lafarge Pakistan with 5.1 million shares, declining Rs0.30 to close at Rs15.05.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs196 million during the trading session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 26th, 2014.
The political impasse continued to affect the stock exchange as the index shed over 350 points to end in the red zone on the first day of the week.
The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index fell 1.22% or 352.41 points to end at 28,519.34
Elixir Securities analyst Harris Ahmed Batla said Pakistan equities closed in the red again with volumes remaining low.
“Volumes remained low as investors preferred to wait for clarity on the political front while index heavy Oil and Gas Development Co (OGDC) -2.4%, MCB Bank (MCB) -1.7% and Lucky Cement (LUCK) -3.2% hurt the index on news that South African regulators will start an anti-dumping probe.”
Batla said rupee sinking against the greenback also raised concerns, keeping investors sidelined from taking advantage of attractive valuations at the current levels.
JS Global analyst Ovais Ahsan said political quagmire remained an overwhelming concern for investors as the market remained bound on a southward journey.
According to Ahsan, the market is expected to remain volatile with a negative bias as politics will decide on ultimate direction.
Trade volumes increased to 82 million shares compared with Friday’s tally of 68 million.
Shares of 284 companies were traded on Monday. Share prices of 196 companies declined, 70 closed higher while 18 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs3.98 billion.
Pakistan Elektron Limited was the volume leader with 18.8 million shares, gaining Rs0.93 to close at Rs30.80. It was followed by the Bank of Punjab with 6.8 million shares, declining Rs0.04 to close at Rs8.00 and Lafarge Pakistan with 5.1 million shares, declining Rs0.30 to close at Rs15.05.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs196 million during the trading session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 26th, 2014.