KARACHI: Stocks rema­ined on a roller-coaster ride on Wednesday with the KSE-100 index trading in the red for better part of the day. The late night announcement by Morgan Stanley Capital International’s (MSCI) semi-annual review saw removal of Lucky Cement and United Bank from its MSCI Global Standard Index Pakistan.

Since they were widely expected to be excluded and the discount having booked in through sell on rumours, investors bought on news with Lucky starting out in red and closing with gains of 2.92 per cent, before briefly hitting its upper circuit. UBL lost 4.24pc but managed to keep its head above the lower circuit.

The KSE-100 index settled at 40,994.05 points at the end of the session, representing loss of 158.23 points (0.38pc). During the session, the index moved in the range of intraday high by 173 points and intraday low by 389 points.

Foreign investors sold off equity worth $8.52 million, but it was readily absorbed by local individuals, companies and banks.

Exploration and production sector was the major loser of 227 points, which was weighed down by persistent decline in international oil prices. Cement performed well and added 92 points on the back of lower coal prices as Attock, Pioneer and Cherat Cement hit their upper limit.

The volume increased to 255m shares from 177m shares a day ago, while traded value rose to Rs13.2 billion, from Rs6.9bn. Stocks that contributed significantly included Siddiqsons Tin Plate, Lotte Chemical, TRG Pakistan, Maple Leaf Cement and Pak Elektron, reflecting 52pc of the total turnover.

Major contribution to the index downside came from Pakistan Oilfields, lower by 5pc, Pakistan Petroleum 3.54pc, Oil and Gas Development Company 3.04pc, UBL 4.24pc and Engro Corporation 1.14pc, taking away 294 points. On the flip side, Lucky Cement, up 2.92pc, DG Khan Cement 4.41pc and Hub Power 1.31pc added 77 points.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2018