KARACHI, Dec 18: Operational liquidation continued on the stock market for the fourth consecutive floor-free session on Thursday as fresh price erosions were witnessed in the leading base shares under the lead of oil sector.
The market’s agony was well-reflected in the KSE 100-share index, which breached through the barrier of 8,000 points from the peak level of 15,674 points to four-year low of 7,785.26, off another 320.37 points or 3.95 per cent, wiping out another Rs91.745 billion from the market capital at Rs2,404.015bn.
Its junior partner the KSE 30-share index received a fresh massive battering, off 5.11 per cent or 534.12 points at 8,068.88, while the KSE All-Share index fell by 216.91 points at 5,683.75 or 3.68 per cent.
Analysts said the market was in search of true price discovery mechanism owing to a massive off-the-market unloading by the foreign investors.
“The foreign selling in kerb significantly adds to the misery of CFS position holders most of whom failed to lure willing buyers, while the delayed court ruling on the issue kept them at their toes all the time,” they said.The general perception is that the market could be back on the rails after the court ruling on the issue as the unsettled positions in CFS involve a huge amount of Rs11 billion.
Bulk of the activity confined to undervalued shares which closed higher on active support at the dips.
Leading losers were led by Habib Bank, MCB Bank, Adamjee Insurance, National Refinery, Attock Petroleum, Pakistan Oilfields, PSO, Pakistan Petroleum, Millat Tractors, Engro Chemical, Packages and Pakistan Services, which suffered fresh fall ranging from Rs6.07 to Rs25.11.
Some of the undervalued shares came in for stray support at the lower levels and generally ended fractionally higher under the lead of modarabas, the only active counter.
Al-Noor Modaraba, Equity Modaraba, Habib Modaraba and BBR Modaraba were leading among them, up by nine paisa to Re1 followed by Baig Spinning, Dewan Salman, Mirza Sugar, Telecard and Frontier Ceramics, which rose by 25 to 40 paisa.
But Taxila Engineering and Ismail Industries were among the top gainers, up by Re1 to Rs2.15.
Trading volume fell to 51m shares from the previous 58m shares as losers cut short the strong lead held by the gainers at 45 to 126, with six shares holding onto their last levels.
Pakistan Cement led the list of actives, firm by 13 paisa at Rs2.03 on 10.774m shares followed by TRG Pakistan, up 35 paisa at Rs1.65 on 9.188m shares, Fauji Cement, easy by one paisa at Rs3.89 on 4.938m shares, Zeal Pak Cement, steady by two paisa at Rs0.65, Pak Prime Fund, lower by 78 paisa at Rs2.28 on 3.956m shares. Al-Abbas Cement, lower four paisa at Rs3.51 on 2.240m shares, Pak PTA, higher by 22 paisa at Rs1.72 on 2.156m shares.
Nimir Chemical followed them, up by 35 paisa at Rs1.66 on 1.530m shares, KESC, firm by 28 paisa at Rs2.13 on 1.229m shares and PICIC Fund, lower by 44 paisa at Rs3.56 on 0.925m shares.
FORWARD COUNTER: Media Times again led the list of actives, easy by nine paisa at Rs10.90 on 1,000 shares followed by Allied Bank, off Rs5.18 at Rs47.35, Bank of Punjab, lower by Rs1.15 at Rs21.35 and Fauji Fertiliser, off Rs6.25 at Rs78.51, without any turnover.
All others also fell under the lead of Engro Chemical, Pakistan Oilfields, Pakistan Petroleum, PSO and all others without any deal.
DEFAULTER COOMPANIES: Apart from Zeal Pak Cement, which topped the list of actives on this counter, Unity Modaraba followed it, up one paisa at Rs0.31 on 0.165m shares, Mukhtar Textiles, also up by the same amount on 26,500 shares, Al-Asif Sugar, up 36 paisa at Rs3.50 on 16,000 shares, and National Asset Leasing, steady by six paisa at Rs0.32 on 19,500 shares.