Stocks take breather as political tensions simmer in Balochistan

Stocks slipped on Tuesday, with financials and energy sectors accounting for most of the losses, as rising political temperature in Balochistan allowed investors to take a breather after 13 sessions of solid gains, dealers said.

They added that the market entered consolidation phase as institutional investors booked profits on political uncertainty that dragged the benchmark index down 0.69 percent.

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) KSE-100 shares index shed 0.69 percent or 216.77 points to close at 42,814.34 points.

KSE-30 shares index shed 0.78 percent or 168.65 points to close at 21,592.26 points. As many as 370 scrips were active of which 132 advanced, 217 declined and 21 remained unchanged.

The ready market volumes stood at 225.34 million shares as compared with the turnover of 270.611 million shares a day earlier.

Analyst Ali Raza at Elixir Securities said equities closed lower, snapping the 13-day positive run that added over 13.5 percent and 5,000 points to the benchmark index.

“Market opened positive but failed to carry momentum as the uncertain political environment in Balochistan gave equities a good enough excuse to take a breather,” he said.

Exploration and production (E&Ps), financials and cements sunk in early trading and closed the day lower on profit-booking; Habib Bank (HBL), down 2.4 percent, United Bank (UBL), down 2.2 percent, Pakistan Petroleum (PPL), down 1.1 percent and Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC), down 1.0 percent dented KSE-100 index the most.

Meanwhile, fertilisers and gas utilities again had a field day with former remaining in limelight as investors bet on upcoming fertiliser policy to benefit the industry, while latter continued gains on euphoria over approval of third LNG pipeline.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said stocks closed lower on investor concerns over economic uncertainty amid surging current account deficit and ongoing rupee depreciation.

Analysts believe consolidation maybe seen at current levels with chartists recommending strong support near 42,500 points level.

Companies reflecting highest gains include Wyeth Pakistan, up Rs79.65 to close at Rs1,672.72/share, and Island Textile, up Rs44.95 to close at Rs962.75/share.

Companies reflecting most losses include Bata Pakistan, down Rs46.66 to close at Rs2,450/share, and Sanofi Aventis, down Rs40.39 to end at Rs1,510/share.

Highest volumes were witnessed in TRG Pakistan with a turnover of 23.5 million shares. The scrip gained Rs1.36 to close at Rs30.78/share.

Worldcall Telecom was second with a turnover of 19.44 million shares.

It shed 17 paisas to close at Rs3.0/share. Pak Elektron was third with a turnover of 16.017 million shares. It gained Rs2.23 to finish at Rs53.92/share.