Stocks drop on political unrest

Stocks fall on Friday as investors opted to remain on the sidelines amid political uproar in the country after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) kick started its ‘long march’ to demand for an early elections, dealers said.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE 100-share Index closed lower by 462.52 points or 1.11 percent to 41,140.34 points against 41,602.86 points recorded in the last session. The highest index of the day remained at 41,643.20 points, while the lowest level was recorded at 41,116.77 points.

“Stocks fell sharply lower on political uncertainty on PTI call for a long march,” said Ahsan Mehanti, analyst at Arif Habib Corp. A slump in rupee, global equity rout, and weak earnings outlook played a catalytic role in the bearish close, he added.

KSE-30 index also decreased by 248.89 points or 1.63 percent to 15,041.11 points, compared with 15,290 points recorded in the last session.

Traded shares decreased by 26 million shares to 177.761 million shares from 203.560 million shares. The trading value dropped to Rs4.656 billion from Rs6.364 billion. Market capital narrowed to Rs6.673 trillion from Rs6.741 trillion.

Out of 322 companies active in the session, 87 closed in green, 220 in red and 15 remained unchanged.

KSE 100 Index largely remained under pressure during the trading session as the index lost value to close at the 41,140 level (down by 1.11 percent), according to Nabeel Haroon, analyst at Topline Securities.

Major positive contributions to the index came from FABL, JVDC, SYS, FFC and HCAR, as they cumulatively contributed 40 points to the index. On the flip side ENGRO, TRG, PSO, PPL and LUCK lost value weighing down the index by 367 points.

The highest increase was recorded in shares of Sapphire FiberXD, which rose by Rs81.46 to Rs1,259 per share, followed by Premium Tex.XD, which increased by Rs46.01 to Rs698 per share. A significant decline was noted in shares of Bata (Pak) that fell by Rs140 to Rs1,960 per share, followed by Colgate Palm that decreased by Rs29.18 to Rs2,039 per share.

In its post-session analysis, Arif Habib Ltd said the PSX witnessed a bloodbath session. “As the prevailing political clamour pushed KSE-100 to plunge by 487.67 points in an intraday low. The market remained under pressure throughout the day as investors opted to stay on the sideline during both sessions.”

Volumes in the mainboard declined whereas as decent volumes were recorded in the 3rd tier stocks, it reported.

Sectors contributing to the performance included cement (-74.6 points), E&P’s (-74.3 points), technology and communication (-66.7 points), oil and gas marketing companies (-46.8 points) and power generation and distribution (-39.8 points).

World Call Telecom remained the volume leader with 25.722 million shares that dropped by 8 paisas to Rs1.32 per share. It was followed by K-Electric Ltd. with 13.204 million shares that closed lower by 7 paisas to Rs2.73 per share.

Other stocks that recorded significant turnover included Cnergyico PK, Fauji Foods Ltd, Pak Refinery, Nishat ChunPow, Faysal Bank, TRG Pak Ltd, Hascol Petrol and TPL Properties XB.

Shares’ turnover in the future contracts increased to 256.122 million shares from 192.231 million shares.