KSE index declines by 66 points with low volumes

The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) benchmark 100-index witnessed a dull session on Friday, as the index closed with a decline of 66.39 points to 22,085.96 points with low volumes, dealers said.

Samar Iqbal, AVP equity sales at Topline Securities, said that another dull day was witnessed at the bourse with volumes of only 105 million shares, valued at Rs3.6 million. “Most of the activity remained toward low-priced shares, such as Pak Electron Right and Telecard. Pakistan State Oil fell sharply after the government announced that they have withdraw the increase in power tariff as investors expect that it will affect the cash flows of their companies,” she said.

The KSE-100 index decline by 66.39 points or 0.30 percent to 22,085.96 points against 22,152.35 points recorded in the last session. The highest level of the day stood at 22,334.25 points, while the lowest level was recorded at 22,062.37 points.

The KSE-30 index also dropped by 57.77 points or 0.34 percent to 16,777.11 points in the session against 16,834.88 points recorded in the last session.

The turnover improved by three million shares to 105.30 million shares from 102.21 million shares, while the trading value declined to Rs3.58 billion against Rs4.93 billion and market capitalisation reduced to Rs5.24 trillion against Rs5.25 trillion recorded in the last session. Of a total of 307 companies’ active in the session, 114 ended in green, 169 in red, while 24 remained unchanged.

An analyst at Sherman Securities said that the market witnessed low volumes as it was the last trading day of the week. “Reports of the government’s decision to review the power tariff hike kept the overall sentiments down as investors feared piling up of circular debt,” he said. “PSO remained under pressure throughout the day on fears of piling up of further circular debt.”

Thus, oil stocks remained under pressure for the same reason. Pakistan Oilfields Limited and Hubco were also some of the few liquid stocks that closed on the high side.

The better than expected dividend amounting to Rs2.0 announced by Nishat Chunian Power Limited (NCPL) helped its share price hit the upper limit.

The highest increase of the day was recorded in the shares of Siemens Pakistan, which rose by Rs28.75 to Rs908.75 per share, followed by Wyeth Pak Ltd that improved by Rs25.11 to Rs4,450.00 per share.

Major decline was noted in the shares of Nestle Pak, which fell by Rs200.00 to Rs6,000.00 per share, followed by Shezan Inter that declined by Rs12.00 to Rs620.00 per share.

Significant turnover was recorded in the stocks of Pak Electron (Righ), Telecard Limited, Nishat (Chunian) Ltd, TRG Pakistan Ltd, Nishat Chunian Power, Media Times Ltd, Bank of Punjab, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited, Fauji Cement XD and Netsol Technologies.

Pak Elektron (Right) remained the volume leader with 9.26 million shares with decline of 75 paisas to Rs5.01 per share. It was followed by Telecard Limited with 8.58 million shares with increase of three paisas to Rs6.10 per share.

Shares turnover in the futures market dropped to 10.69 million shares from 12.22 million shares traded in the previous session.