KARACHI: Having plunged by nearly three per cent from its peak, the KSE-100 index started on a strong note on Wednesday.

It reclaimed 228 points before profit-taking by foreign investors and mutual funds wiped out the early-session gains and the index dipped to the intraday low by 329 points.

The index managed to bounce back a little before the end of the session to close at 48,306 points, recording a loss of 233.23 points or 0.48pc for the day.

Overall environment remains cloudy with the verdict on the Panama Papers case still awaited. Investors continue to seek clarity on the broker-proposed amendments to financing regulations from the apex regulator, said analysts at Intermarket Securities.

On top of it, the recent decline in crude oil prices – 9.1pc in the previous week – has taken its toll on the oil and gas sector.

Market volumes inched up 5.6pc over Tuesday to 206 million shares while the traded value fell 9.2pc to Rs10.9bn as second- and third-tier stocks came in the limelight.

Following another gloomy session, 15 stocks closed on their upper circuits while 20 names closed at their lower limits. Analyst Imran Ali at Invest and Finance Securities pointed out that commercial banks, mainly UBL and HBL, witnessed considerable selling pressure, cumulatively eroding 139 points from the index.

K-Electric and SSGC lost 4.29pc and 1.09pc, respectively, on the back of the news that Abraaj Group will not be able to conclude its deal with Shanghai Electric within the stipulated time.

Upbeat data on oil production invited mid-session support in energy exploration and production stocks. Weak global crude prices, leverage issues in second- and third-tier scrips and concerns over the regulatory outcome regarding noncompliant brokerages acted as a catalyst in bearish activity, said Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2017