Market watch: Foreign selling continues as index takes another beating

Benchmark KSE-100 index drops 209.14 points.

KARACHI: Pakistan equities closed negative on a trading day that was cut short by an hour as the market observed mourning following the carnage in Peshawar.

At close, the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) benchmark 100-share index decreased 0.68% or 209.14 points to end at 30,667.14.

Elixir Securities analyst Faisal Bilwani said stocks traded volatile and wider market struggled to find direction, while institutional selling ahead of close in index names pulled the index to settle below 30,750.



“Large cap financials, oils and cements failed to sustain pressure while textiles were worst hit with Nishat Mills (NML -5%) and Nishat Chunian (NCL -5%) closing at lower price limits as the government lifted the moratorium on death penalty,” he said. “This move can risk Pakistan’s GSP Plus status for exports to Europe.

“Expect volatile trading with index names seeing support at lows in days ahead while broader market will continue to track flows particularly from foreigners.”

Meanwhile, JS Global analyst Arhum Ghous said mix sentiments were witnessed in the pharmaceutical sector as the State Bank of Pakistan highlighted industry issues and warned government to take immediate corrective measures. Trade volumes declined to 199 million shares compared to 262 million on Tuesday.

Shares of 354 companies were traded on Wednesday. Of these, 199 companies declined, 133 closed higher and 22 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs11.9 billion.

K-Electric Limited was the volume leader with 35.4 million shares, gaining Rs0.47 to close at Rs8.69. It was followed by the Bank of Punjab with 11.6 million shares, losing Rs0.02 to close at Rs10.15 and Byco Petroleum with 8.1 million shares, losing Rs0.74 to close at Rs9.28.



Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs1.9 billion worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 18^th,  2014.

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