KARACHI, Nov 14: The KSE 100-share index on Wednesday plunged by 2.25 per cent or 306 points on nervous selling apparently overwhelmed by the election uncertainties and worries about the law and order situation in the backdrop of agitation by political parties against the emergency.
The weakness of the oil sector followed by retreat of international prices from the record highs was another bearish factor, which dragged down the entire market along with it and the other blue chips followed them in panic.
An idea of panic selling triggered by the weakness of the oil sector followed by retreat of the world oil prices from the record high may well be had from the fact that all the leading shares in this sector and banking sector finished with “lower locks” as the single session fall in them was well above the five per cent ceiling and trading was suspended to clear the outstanding dues.
The KSE 100-share index fell by 305.83 points at 13,315.26 but well above the session’s low of 13,282.60 on late covering purchases on selected counters, eroding Rs84 billion from the market capital at Rs4,076 billion. Leading base shares, notably MCB, National Bank, OGDC, Bank of Punjab, Pakistan Petroleum and Pakistan Oilfields were leading among the losers.
The KSE 30-share index suffered a bigger decline of 405.67 points at 15,881.56 as leading base shares remained under pressure throughout the session.
“The fall in oil prices may be one of the reasons behind the current sell-off but analysts said there are many other bearish supporting factors also which worry investors”.
They said much will depend on the future market outlook on the caretaker setup and their near-term policies, although election uncertainties will remain the dominating factor in stock trading.
“Divergent views of the government and the foreign countries, notably the US and the Common Wealth on the emergency issue could take an ugly turn prior to the elections as the former is not inclined to lift it before elections,” an analyst feared.The future market outlook appears uncertain in the developing situation, notably agitation by the political parties, and talk of boycott of election if emergency was not lifted and worries on the law and order front could take their toll.
“What worries investors is the possible outflow of foreign funds in a big way if the current uncertainty prevails,” analysts said and if that “happens there could be massive outflow.”
Nestle Pakistan and Siemens Pakistan were leading gainers in a terribly volatile market, up by Rs25 and 48, followed by Fazal Textiles, Habib Bank, Atlas Honda, Sanofi-Aventis, Gillette Pakistan, AKD Securities and HinoPak, which posted gains ranging from Rs6.05 to 20.Lakson Tobacco and Wyeth Pakistan led the list of losers, off by Rs24 and 90. Other leading losers included JS Global, Adamjee Insurance, JS & Co, IGI Insurance, Attock Refinery, Attock Petroleum, Pakistan Engineering, Dawood Hercules, BOC, Pakistan Packages, National Foods and Shezan International, which were marked down by Rs10.25 to 18.50.
Trading volume showed a modest expansion at 250m shares from the previous 221m shares but losers held a strong lead over the gainers at 268 to 96, with 30 shares holding on to the last levels.
TRG Pakistan led the list of actives, lower by 60 paisa at Rs12.45 on 16m shares followed by National Bank, off Rs4.55 at Rs232.45 on 15m shares, Bank of Punjab, easy by Rs2.40 at Rs93.70 on 12m shares, OGDC, off Rs1.95 at Rs114.15 on 11m shares, Arif Habib Securities, off Rs7.15 at Rs161 on 10m shares and Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, lower by Rs1.15 at Rs44.25 on 7m shares.
Other actives were led by Azgard Nine, (preference shares spot), up one rupee at Rs10 on 21m shares, followed by NIB Bank, off 70 paisa on 7m shares and Pervez Ahmed Securities, lower by Rs1.55 also on 7m shares.
FORWARD COUNTER: National Bank led the list of actives, off Rs4.25 at Rs234.10 on 8m shares followed by MCB, lower by Rs9.60 at Rs350.90 on 7m shares and Bank of Punjab, easy by Rs1.70 at Rs94.80 on 6m shares.
Lucky Cement followed them, off Rs4.40 at Rs116.20 on 5m shares and OGDC, lower by Rs1.75 at Rs115.00 on 4m shares.
DEFAULTER COS: Unity Modaraba came in for active short-covering and was quoted higher by 15 paisa at one rupee on 3.983m shares followed by Zeal-Pak Cement, lower 25 paisa at Rs4.70 on 1.94m shares and Japan Power, easy by 20 paisa at Rs8.25 on 1.800m shares.
Interasia followed them, up 45 paisa at Rs1.45 on 0.655m shares and Norrie Textiles, lower 15 paisa at Rs1.80 on 0.327m shares.
