KARACHI: Last session of the week turned out to be tumultuous for the stock market where the KSE-100 index fell 142.80 points (0.4pc) to settle at 40.496.03.

Right from the start, trading was dominated by the foreign funds, which went into selling mode on the MSCI semi-annual review. According to the National Clearing Company of Pakistan, foreign corporates dumped stocks worth $34.30 million while overseas Pakistanis bought shares valued at $1.62m. Foreign sell-off was met with aggressive buying by local participants across the board.

The quick bouts of selling by foreigners and buying by local resulted in the index oscillating between the intraday high and low by 298 points and 299 points, respectively. Investors were bewildered by the sudden drop in the rupee, hitting an all-time low against the dollar at Rs144 during the day. However, the rumpus died down as the local currency readjusted to Rs140 before close of market.

Massive investor participation was witnessed in the traded volume, which jumped by 178pc to 271m shares while the traded value also soared 385pc to $171m. Heavy turnover was witnessed in the two downgraded stocks, UBL and Lucky Cement, from MSCI standard to small cap index.

Sector-wise, cement took the hammering with heavyweights Lucky, Pioneer, Kohat, Cherat, Maple Leaf and Fauji Cement closing at or near their ‘lower circuits’. Mixed sentiments were seen in the banking scrips. The SBP monetary policy, which beat analysts’ expectations by incremental raise by 50bps against consensus anticipation of 100bps, could carry the impact to the upcoming week.

Major declining stocks were Lucky Cement, down 4.57pc, Engro 2.44pc, HBL 1.93pc, UBL 1.60pc and DG Khan Cement 4.75pc, together erasing 203 points. On the flip side, Oil and Gas Development Company was up 4.24pc, Pakistan Petroleum 4.01pc and MCB 3.96pc, cumulatively adding 228 points.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2018