KARACHI, Aug 20: The KSE 100-share index on Wednesday took a big plunge of 3.60 per cent on active selling triggered by reports of differences developed between the two major coalition partners over the restoration of the judiciary and some other crucial issues.

At one stage it was down by 436 points at 10,483.99 as all the leading base shares and pivotals touched their circuit breakers but late covering purchases aided by the intervention of the Equity Market Fund allowed it to finish well above session’s low at 10,525.99, off 393.07 points.

Market capital also fell by Rs118.436bn at Rs3,269 billion. Its junior partner also shed 455.20 points at 12,151.36.

OGDC, Attock Refinery, National Bank, Engro Chemical and some other leading shares remained at the receiving-end throughout the session.

Dividend and bonus shares announcements by some of the leading companies, notably Colgate Pakistan and Clover Pakistan, were on the higher side of the market expectations but they came in a falling market and were neglected.

Most of analysts believe the snap reversal in a perfect buoyant market is apparently caused by the highly overbought leveraged positions amid fears that some brokers may face clearing problems.

“The meeting of coalition partners indicates that sailing on the political front may not be that smooth and investors fears that the dust may not settle down as was widely speculated after the exit of the president,” said analyst Tabish Hasan Bhayani.

What worried investors most was the hasty exit of the foreign investors who had been a bit active during the last couple of sessions amid hope of political stability, Ahsan Mehanti noted.

Signals from the leading credit rating agencies trickling here are not that positive, notably about the shape of the economy, trade deficit and high rate of inflation and any negative comment by them could take its toll, he added.

But another leading stock analyst Hasnain Asghar Ali hopes that the initial dust raised by some crucial issues and personal interest of leaders will ultimately settle down as each contender has too much at a stake in the survival of the system.

Minus signs again dominated the list under the lead of Siemens Pakistan and Unilever Pakistan, off Rs66 and Rs25, followed by Millat Tractors, MCB Bank, Sapphire Fibres, National Refinery, Attock Petroleum, PSO, Shell Pakistan, Pakistan Petroleum, Pakistan Oilfields, Al-Ghazi Tractors, Dawood Hercules, National Foods and Colgate Pakistan, which fell by Rs10 to Rs24.90.

JS & Co and EFU Life managed to finish with an extended gain of Rs19.64 and Rs19.43, while Shield Corporation, EFU General, JS Global and Adamjee Insurance followed them, up by Rs5.34 to Rs11.22.

Trading volume again fell to 117m shares from the previous 211 million shares as losers held a strong lead over the gainers at 243 to 46, with 16 shares holding on to the last levels.

OGDC led the list of actives, sharply lower by Rs6.17 at Rs117.28 on 9m shares, followed by Engro Chemical, off Rs7.64 at Rs206.90 on 5m shares, Attock Refinery, easy by Rs5.10 at Rs174.80 also on 5m shares, D.G.Khan Cement, easy by Rs2.55 at Rs48.63 on 4m shares, Nishat Mills, lower by Rs3.12 at Rs59.38 also on 4m shares and National Bank, sharply lower by Rs6.32 at Rs120.18 on 3m shares.

Other actives were led by Callmate Telips, easy by 47 paisa at Rs1.90 on 8m shares, NIB Bank, off Re1 at Rs9.44 on 8m shares, Zeal Pak Cement, easy by nine paisa at Rs1.47 on 5m shares and Pervez Securities, lower by Re1 at Rs18.01 on 4m shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: JS & Co led the list of actives on the cleared list, sharply higher by Rs19.87 at Rs417.32 on 2m shares, followed by OGDC, off by Rs6.17 at Rs117.28 also on 2m shares and Engro Chemical, lower by Rs8.79 at Rs205.15 on 1.498m shares.