KARACHI: Stocks fell for the third day this week with the KSE-100 index tumbling 107.04 points (0.26 per cent) on Wednesday to close at 40,503.68.

Trading remained choppy as the index hovered bet­ween the intraday high by 166 points and low by 296 points.

Market analysts tried to put forth various reasons for the extended declines, including the oft-repeated “uncertain political conditions”. Some analysts also attributed the fall in share prices to the investors’ disappointment over remittances data, which showed inflows from overseas declined 20pc year-on-year in September. The market worried about an uptick in the current account deficit for September in the wake of lower remittances.

The volume declined 30pc over the previous day to 130 million shares. The traded value was down 17pc to Rs5.39 billion. Local participants mostly stood aside, except mutual funds and companies that sold stocks worth $5.24m and $4.76m, respectively. Foreign portfolio investors bought stocks worth $7m, making it the third day of net inflows.

Banking and fertiliser sectors contributed 120 points to the index decline while the exploration and production sector added 18 points because of an increase in oil prices. Elixir Securities said that oil was among the few key sectors that managed a green finish.

MCB Bank, which gained 2.1pc, and Fauji Fertiliser, up 1.7pc, were the only two stocks that weathered the downtrend apart from oil companies that supported the benchmark index.

Intermarket Securities said the KSE-100 index was volatile as it hovered near its technical and psychological support level of 40,000 points. “Such wild swings during intraday moves have the potential to spook investors as they begin doubting their own initiative and strategy,” they said.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2017