Karachi, March 22: The KSE 100-share index on Tuesday plunged by another 403 points or 4.4 per cent as investors continued to take profits at the inflated levels but late short-covering in some of the pivotals raised hopes that correction may now be overdone. It finally ended around 8,694.61, after having moved on both sides of the fence amid alternate bouts of buying and selling. It has shed 1,600 points during the last four sessions and how will it behave after Pakistan Day holiday is any body’s guess in a prevailing mess. The market capital also suffered a fresh sharp decline of Rs113.163bn, about Rs218.00 during the last two sessions, as leading shares maintained their downward drift after breaching successive circuit breakers.
There was, however, no immediate positive impact of the central bank quarterly report, which warned about the rising rate of inflation above eight per cent but predicted the high rate of growth would be sustained owing to higher farm output.
The interesting feature was that turnover figure shrank further to 137m shares, far below a single-session tally of an active share such as PTCL, OGDC, and Pak PTA. Instances of selective buying were, however, not wanting but leading bulls and bears maintained a near-status quo to allow panicky general investors to offload their holding at the falling prices.
It was a judicious blend of both profit-selling and technical correction in a highly overbought market and could not be called the total rout of the bulls, one broker said adding it was satisfying to note that there were no reports of default on the part of any member despite a massive plunge.
No one could deny the fact that there is a panic in the corridors of KSE but those who are well-aware of the market’s operational norms try to cover risk factors before riding the bandwagon, analysts said.
“The market may have risen beyond its mandate in a craze to hit the coveted level of 10,000 but speculation is an essential part of the stock trading and without it the dealings may remain terribly dull”, they said “in no way the current correction phase could be termed the market collapse”.
It was perhaps in this background bulk of the buying and selling operations remained confined to the second-liners, while leading and active shares generally maintained a status quo barring PPL and some others, which suffered fresh fall.
Minus signs again dominated list under lead of Arif Habib Securities, Javed Omer, Bhanero Textiles, National Refinery Shell Pakistan, and PSO, which suffered fall ranging from Rs16.90 to Rs22.25. They were followed by Millat Tractors, Ferozsons Lab, Aventis, Grays of Cambridge, PPL, Pakistan Oilfields, Artistic Denim, Grays of Cambridge and Wyeth Pakistan, off Rs10 to Rs50.
Some of the insurance shares led the resistance to further declines and rose by Rs4, Rs2.80, Rs4 and Rs6 for Muslim, Habib Insurance, EFU General and IGI respectively. WorldCall, Shafiq Textiles, Colony Textiles and Pakistan Gum Chemical also posted gains ranging from R1.50 to Rs4.75.
Trading volume fell further to 137m shares from the previous 154m shares but losers maintained a strong lead over the gainers at 319 to 55, with 19 shares holding on to the last levels. Pak PTA again topped the list of actives, easy 60 paisa at Rs13.20 on 29m shares followed by Sui Northern Gas, off Rs2.50 at Rs64 on 10m shares, Hub-Power, lower by 50 paisa at Rs29.05 also on 10m shares, D.G.Khan Cement, sharply lower by Rs3.35 at Rs63.65 on 9m shares and Pakistan Petroleum, off Rs13.25 at Rs251.75 on 7m shares.
Other actives included TRG Pakistan, easy 90 paisa on 6m shares, PSO, sharply lower by Rs22.01 on 5m shares, Bank of Punjab, Rs3.65 also on 5m shares, Sui Southern Gas, lower Rs1.25 on 4m shares and PIAC, off 70 paisa also on 4m shares.
FORWARD COUNTER: PSO came in for heavy selling and fell by Rs22.26 at Rs422.99 on 12m shares, PPL off Rs13.26 on 22m shares, Sui Northern Gas, lower Rs1.63 at Rs63.87 on 12m shares, and PTCL, off Rs4.03 at Rs76.72 on 9m shares.
DEFAULTER COS: Barring Lafayette, which came in for active selling and fell 40 paisa at Rs1.80 on 0.119m shares, all others were modestly traded in the absence of strong demand.
DIVIDEND: Glaxo-SKF, cash 70 per cent, Rafhan Bestfoods, cash 50 per cent, KSB Pumps, cash 17.5 per cent, Bawany Air Products, right shares at the rate of 70 per cent.
BOARD MEETINGS: English Leasing on March 24, Pakistan Services, Central Insurance on March 26, EFU Life Assurance, and EFU General on March 29.
