KARACHI: Bulls were driven away only after a day of rampage on the stock market, where the KSE-100 index again resumed its journey south, losing 66.43 points (0.16 per cent) to close at 40,724.96 points on Tuesday.

The rally extended into the second day and the KSE-100 index initially climbed intraday high by 562 points. But market bears regrouped to stage a comeback. As the investors’ euphoria over the proposed Rs20bn market support fund died down, they decided to liquidate positions which saw the index succumb to intense selling pressure losing all of the day’s initial gains and close in the red.

The only noticeable feature was the net buying of $3.52m worth stocks by the mutual funds. A fund manager asserted that it dispels rumours of heavy redemption orders.

The upbeat sentiment witnessed on Monday led to higher market participation on Tuesday as the volume rose 34pc over the earlier day to 167m shares while the traded value jumped 61pc to Rs9.72bn.

“Domestic sentiments remain influenced by ongoing political turmoil,” stated Intermarket Securities.

Dealers at Topline Securities noted that even with the additional import control measures announced by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the KSE-100 index failed to add to the Monday’s gains and succumbed to profit-taking.

Main laggards for the day were Hubco, which went down 2.1pc, SNGPL 4pc, HBL 0.8pc PAKT 5pc and Lucky Cement 1.4pc, eroding 120 points from the index; while POL gained 3.5pc, The Searle 4.9pc, DGKC 2.3pc, HCAR 5pc and PPL 0.8pc, adding 111 points.

Sector-wise, OMCs shed 47 points, banks 46 points, power 40 points, while E&P added 67 points mainly contribution of 45 points by POL. Autos added 37 points on the back of FBR’s regulatory duties on automobile imports.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2017