Stocks fall as political uncertainty deepens

Stocks fell on Friday as political fears grew after Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi advised the governor to dissolve the provincial assembly, traders said.

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) benchmark KSE 100-share Index fell 1.18 percent or by 480.44 points to close at 40,323.45 points, against 40,803.89 points recorded in the last session. Intraday high was 40,803.89 points, while intraday low was 40,200.69 points.

“The market nosedived during the trading session today making an intraday low of 608.21 points. The benchmark KSE-100 index opened in the negative zone owing to the political uncertainty in the country keeping the investors at bay,” said Arif Habib Limited in a post-session report.

The second session resumed with the same sentiments as investors opted to square up their positions on account of an ambiguous weekend ahead on the political front, according to the brokerage house.

“[However,] volumes in the mainboard remained decent whereas, healthy volumes were witnessed in the 3rd tier stocks,” it added.

KSE-30 index went down 1.33 percent or 201.18 points to stand at 14,896.33 points, compared with 15,097.51 points recorded in the last session.

Trade volume dropped by 2.148 million shares to stand at 173.264 million shares, from 175.412 million shares. Trading value declined to Rs4.628 billion from Rs5.891 billion.

Market capital down to Rs6.424 trillion from Rs6.506 trillion. Out of 324 companies active in the session, 81 closed in green, 218 in red and 25 remained unchanged.

Sectors contributing to a negative performance included E&P (-172 points), Tech (-48 points), Banks (-46 points), Cement (-44 points), OMCs (-42 points), and Pharma (-18 points).

According to Topline Securities, a negative session was observed at the local bourse, which can be attributed to an increased political noise in Punjab that is likely to be followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly.

“Investor participation declined further as investors preferred to remain on sidelines given increase in uncertainty,” it said.

The highest increase was recorded in the shares of Thal Ind. Corp., up Rs16.66 to close at Rs238.91/share, followed by Suraj Cotton, rose by Rs10.71 to close at Rs153.90/share. A significant decline was noted in the shares of Rafhan Maize, down Rs511.03 to stand at Rs8,410/share, followed by Nestle Pakistan, fell by Rs200 to end at Rs5,650/share.

Hascol Petrol remained the volume leader with 25.154 million shares. Its scrip gained 29 paisa to stand at Rs6.62/share. It was followed by WorldCall Telecom with 21.409 million shares that closed lower by three paisas to Rs1.14/share.

Other stocks that recorded significant turnover included Pak Petroleum, Summit Bank, Cnergyico PK, Oil & Gas Dev., BankIslami Pak., Lotte Chemical, Al Shaheer (R), and Pak Refinery.

Shares’ turnover in the future contracts decreased to 37.913 million shares, from 44.378 million shares previously.