KARACHI: Snapping the seven-session winning str­e­­ak, stocks fell on Wednesday as the KSE-100 index retrea­ted by 208.86 points (0.59 per cent) to close at 35,328.83.

“Turmoil in China’s key share indices triggered major sell-off in Asian markets. As a result, fear of foreign selling affected trading activity of local investors,” commented dealers on the trading desk at Topline Securities.

Foreigners were major sellers of stocks worth $6.67 million. The portfolio outflow was seen in fertilisers ($5m) and cements ($2.2m), while buying was witnessed in banks ($3.2m) and power generation and distribution ($1.3m). Individuals, however, mitigated the impact of foreign sell-off by heavy purchases.

Market participants said that investors were spooked after National Accounta­bility Bureau submitted a report to the Supreme Court pertaining to a list of 150 mega corruption cases.

Concerns over the ongoing protests against new tax levies on banking transactions and SECP chairman’s warnings to defaulter companies pushed investors to the sidelines.

Index heavy-weight stocks like Engro Corp, Pakistan Pet­roleum, DG Khan Cem­e­nt, Fauji Cement, Lucky Cement and Pakistan State Oil witnessed major selling that dra­gged down the overall market.

Traded volume decreased 8pc to 406m shares, while val­ue declined 13pc to Rs17.3 billion. The second- and third-tier stocks were the volume leaders. Brokerage Sunrise Cap­it­al calculated that the cement sector accounted for 28pc cha­nge in all share index, follo­wed by 13pc by investment banking and 11pc by refineries.

KSE’s all-share index declined by 104.79 points.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said that the stocks closed bearish on institutional profit-taking in overbought market.

In cement sector, LUCK, DGKC and PIOC closed down by 0.9pc, 1.5pc and 2.8pc, respectively.

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2015

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