Market watch: Stocks fall 62 points on political uncertainty
Extension of IMF loan programme fails to excite investors.
KARACHI:
The conflict between the government and coalition partners caused jitters among investors who trimmed their positions especially in oil and fertiliser stocks, according to analysts.
The Karachi Stock Exchange benchmark 100-share index ended 0.52 per cent or 61.68 points lower at 11,848.05.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) confirmed on Monday that the party had quit the federal cabinet but was not quitting the government for the sake of democracy.
News of International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) approval of extension of the standby loan programme for nine months failed to excite investors.
Earlier, the government had sought a nine-month extension of the $11.3 billion loan programme, which was scheduled to end this year, because it had not been able to implement fiscal reforms including the reformed general sales tax (RGST) on schedule. Now, the programme will run through September 2011, with two tranches yet to be disbursed.
During trading, Engro bore the brunt of selling, dipping 3.5 per cent on rumours that the trial run of its new fertiliser plant has not begun on time and the government is seeking explanation for a 23 per cent hike in urea prices from fertiliser manufacturers, said JS Global Capital analyst Jawad Khan.
Oil stocks remained under pressure with low volumes while banking stocks mostly closed in the negative.
Nishat Mills Limited gained 1.05 per cent on news of its inclusion in the Shariah-compliant index.
The trading volume jumped 29.3 per cent to 110.1 million shares compared with 85.2 million shares traded on Monday.
Shares of 400 companies were traded on Tuesday. At the end of the day, 144 stocks closed higher, 231 declined and 25 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs4.97 billion.
Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim Limited (FFBL) was the volume leader with 9.31 million shares falling Rs0.17 to finish at Rs37.14. FFBL’s urea plant has shut down due to shortage of natural gas.
It was followed by National Bank of Pakistan with 8.07 million shares gaining Rs0.52 to close at Rs72.77 and Arif Habib Corporation with 7.35 million shares firming Rs0.7 to close at Rs25.72.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 29th, 2010.
The conflict between the government and coalition partners caused jitters among investors who trimmed their positions especially in oil and fertiliser stocks, according to analysts.
The Karachi Stock Exchange benchmark 100-share index ended 0.52 per cent or 61.68 points lower at 11,848.05.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) confirmed on Monday that the party had quit the federal cabinet but was not quitting the government for the sake of democracy.
News of International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) approval of extension of the standby loan programme for nine months failed to excite investors.
Earlier, the government had sought a nine-month extension of the $11.3 billion loan programme, which was scheduled to end this year, because it had not been able to implement fiscal reforms including the reformed general sales tax (RGST) on schedule. Now, the programme will run through September 2011, with two tranches yet to be disbursed.
During trading, Engro bore the brunt of selling, dipping 3.5 per cent on rumours that the trial run of its new fertiliser plant has not begun on time and the government is seeking explanation for a 23 per cent hike in urea prices from fertiliser manufacturers, said JS Global Capital analyst Jawad Khan.
Oil stocks remained under pressure with low volumes while banking stocks mostly closed in the negative.
Nishat Mills Limited gained 1.05 per cent on news of its inclusion in the Shariah-compliant index.
The trading volume jumped 29.3 per cent to 110.1 million shares compared with 85.2 million shares traded on Monday.
Shares of 400 companies were traded on Tuesday. At the end of the day, 144 stocks closed higher, 231 declined and 25 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs4.97 billion.
Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim Limited (FFBL) was the volume leader with 9.31 million shares falling Rs0.17 to finish at Rs37.14. FFBL’s urea plant has shut down due to shortage of natural gas.
It was followed by National Bank of Pakistan with 8.07 million shares gaining Rs0.52 to close at Rs72.77 and Arif Habib Corporation with 7.35 million shares firming Rs0.7 to close at Rs25.72.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 29th, 2010.