KARACHI: The benchmark KSE-100 index declined by 57.68 points (0.13 per cent) to close at 43,078.38 on Friday with politics continuing to dominate market sentiments.

The index dropped by nearly 800 points in the morning session as political news kept the investors’ mood subdued. But the benchmark recovered most losses in the afternoon session when oil and select index names rose on reported local institutional buying, according to analysts at Elixir Securities.

Pakistan Petroleum and Oil and Gas Development Company were among top gainers as they rose 5pc and 2.8pc, respectively.

Engro Corp fell 2.3pc after posting an unconsolidated net loss of Rs1.19 billion translating into a loss per share of Rs2.28 for April-June against a net profit of Rs15.87bn a year ago.

Arif Habib Ltd said the result was disappointing on account of retrospective provisioning of Rs2bn super tax in lieu of 2016.

The traded value rose 27.6pc to Rs11.27bn from the preceding day while the volume jumped 12.4pc to 188.1 million shares.

Statistics released by National Clearing Company of Pakistan Ltd showed foreigners were net buyers of equities worth $1.8m. In line with the recent trend, mutual funds were once again net sellers. Their net selling amounted to $8.9m while that of individuals remained $1.2m. Compa­nies, banks and brokers were net buyers.

As many as 154 companies gained value while 203 stocks declined.

According to Insight Securities, anticipation of the rupee devaluation created interest in dollar-denominated stocks. Azgard Nine witnessed the highest turnover with 18.1m shares. It was followed by Aisha Steel Mills 14.2m shares, TRG Pakistan 13.1m shares and Bank of Punjab 7.7m shares.

Elixir Securities analysts believe volatility will persist next week with domestic politics guiding the market direction.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2017