KARACHI: The activity on the stock market remained lacklustre on Friday with the KSE-100 index up by just 6.50 points to 28,871.75.

Volume was thin, down by 55pc over the earlier day. Investors stood on the sidelines, unwilling to take fresh positions ahead of the weekly holidays as no progress was evident to resolve the current political crisis.

Foreign investors sold net $0.44 million worth equity, while mutual funds also offloaded shares valued at $2.40m. Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp commented that the stocks closed higher amid thin trade on cautious activity in the corporate earnings announcement session after senate approved resolution affirming supremacy of the Constitution and parliament.

Pressure on the rupee, falling foreign reserves and SBP concerns on political turmoil negatively impacted the sentiments.

Strong earnings announcements and expected ease in circular debt, however, helped ease investors’ fears.

In their weekly report, analysts at AKD Research stated that the developments on the political front continued to dictate market movements during the week, with the KSE-100 index closing down by 46 points or 0.16pc. This reflected continued focus on corporate results as well as investor confidence in a resilient market. Foreign Investors were net buyers of $6.2m equity during the week, while banks increased net holdings by $5.3m.

Mutual funds and individuals remained net sellers through the week, offloading $4.7m and US$3.1m respectively.

Raheel Ashraf at JS Global stated in his weekly report that the equity market closed a volatile week.

The weak sentiment was mainly attributed to the ongoing political uncertainty in the country.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2014