KARACHI: Stocks dropped again on Friday as the previous day’s rally proved short-lived amid deteriorating law and order in the country. The benchmark KSE-100 index lost 213 points (0.43 per cent) to close at 49,376.

With the weekend ahead, weak individual investors decided to unwind their positions. Corporate results announced on Friday had little to cheer.

Figures released by United Bank (UBL) and the Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) were generally thought to be in line with expectations, but Engro Corporation’s lower-than-expected dividend did not find favour with the market.

Volumes increased to 373 million shares from 263m shares traded on Thursday, while trading value surged to Rs20.3 billion from Rs14.2bn. Almost 41 stocks closed on their upper circuits compared to only four names closing on their lower limits.

Major contribution to the downside came from Engro 4.57pc, Dawood Hercules 5pc, UBL 1.49pc, International Steels Ltd 4.99pc, and OGDC 1.24pc, which together took away 225 points.

On the flip side, Habib Bank gained 0.96pc, Millat Tractors Ltd (MLT) 5pc and Lucky Cement 0.78pc added 75 points to the index.

Dealers on the sales desk at Global Securities calculated that Engro and Dawood Hercules cumulatively wiped 140 points off the KSE-100 index.

MTL closed at its upper limit for the second consecutive day on euphoria over the company’s announcement a day earlier of setting up a greenfield project for the assembly and sales of Hyundai Motor Company’s vehicles in Pakistan.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation stated that weak corporate earnings announcement invited mid-session pressure.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2017