Politics hits shares, cements lead fall

Shares fell almost one percent on Tuesday, led lower by a drop in cement companies, with investors unnerved on standoff between the government and opposition parties over Panama papers, dealers said. Analyst Ahmed Saeed Khan at JS Research said negativity prevailed in the market amid rising political uncertainty.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE 100-share Index closed down 0.80 percent or 328.50 points at 40,954.22 points. The highest index of the day remained at the starting level of 41,282.72 points, while the lowest level of the day was recorded at 40,759.52 points. KSE 30-share Index also dropped 0.96 percent or 217.10 points to end at 22,287.04 points.

Turnover increased four million shares to 382.81 million shares. Trading value rose to Rs13.11 billion from Rs12.87 billion, while market capital fell to Rs8.36 trillion from Rs8.42 trillion. Out of 451 companies, 137 closed up, 291 ended down and 23 remained unchanged.

The cement sector was the major laggard of the day, as the sector was down around 2.37 percent on the back of rising global coal prices. Maple Leaf (down 4.02 percent) and Lucky Cement (down 1.69 percent) were the major index mover of the cement sector.

“Caution is advised till political environment calms down,” Khan said. Analyst Ali Raza at Elixir Securities said rising political noise and planned protests by the opposition parties in the coming weeks scared investors, leading to selling across the board.

The oil stocks shrugged off uptrend in global crude oil prices that traded above $50 a barrel. Profit-taking continued in the sector. OGDC (down 0.72 percent) and PSO (falling 1.29 percent) were the biggest index movers of the sector.

Meanwhile, Hub Power Co (down 2.5 percent) succumbed to selling pressure and dented KSE 100 the most after the company suggested a potential reduction in production capacity of coal-fired power project

An analyst said the capacity reduction will erode around five percent of Hubco's valuation.  Highest increase was recorded in Wyeth Pak Ltd. Its share rose Rs65.62 to Rs2,789.43/share, followed by Sapphire Textile that was up Rs46.53 to Rs977.28/share. Major decrease was registered in Rafhan Maize. Its share value fell Rs198 to Rs7,800/share, followed by Hinopak Motor that was down Rs61.68 to Rs1,468.20/share.

Significant turnover was recorded in stocks of Bank of Punjab, TPL Trakker Ltd, Nimir Resins, TRG Pak Ltd, Jahangir Siddiqui Co, Dewan Cement, K-Electric Ltd, Sui Southern Gas Pipeline Ltd, Pace (Pak) Ltd and Engro Polymer.

Bank of Punjab remained the volume leader with 52 million shares with an increase of 49 paisas to Rs16.50/share. It was followed by TPL Trakker Ltd with 18.99 million shares with an increase of 40 paisas to Rs16.88/share. Turnover in the future contracts rose to 67.32 million shares from 61.40 million shares traded in the previous session.