Stocks extend losses on political uncertainty

Stocks on Wednesday extended losses due to tense political situation, but late session support by value-hunters helped the Index stage recovery after losing more than 1,000 points in the first two hours, dealers said.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said stocks closed lower amid pressure across the board as investors were uncertain about the decision of the Supreme Court related to Panama Papers case.

“Late session buying was (however) witnessed in oil, banking and textile stocks, which supported the index to close above the session lows,” Mehanti said. 

The KSE 100-share Index of Pakistan Stock Exchange shed 0.74 percent or 328.39 points to close at 43,792.19 points. KSE 30-share Index fell 0.67 percent or 152.32 points to end at 22,747.03 points. As many as 345 shares were active; of which 144 increased, 189 decreased and 12 remained unchanged.

The ready market volumes stood at 215.169 million shares as compared with the turnover of 185.167 million shares a day earlier.

Companies, reflecting highest gains, included Wyeth Pakistan up Rs71.86 to close at Rs2,100.39/share and Island Textile that rose Rs43.76 to end at Rs920.75/share.

Companies, with most losses, included Rafhan Maize down Rs150 to end at Rs6,650/share and HinoPak Motor that fell Rs63.29 to close at Rs1,300.01/share. Dealers said global oil price retreat, surging banking deposits, upbeat auto sales supported the late session buying. 

Index heavy Oil and Gas up 4 percent, Habib Bank rising 1.7 percent and Fauji Fertilizer increasing 4.5 percent emerged as top gainers, while Lucky Cement down 3.6 percent, Hub Power falling 3.3 percent and Engro Corp decreasing 2.6 percent were among the top losers.

Elixir Securities, in a report, said equities kept treading on losing streak as institutional investors remained net sellers in the Index names perturbed by ongoing political turmoil.

Day kicked off on a bearish note with benchmark KSE 100 Index extending declines and tanking by more than 1,000 points within the first two hours of trading. Notable index names across major sectors witnessed hammering pre-dominantly from local banks and asset managers and amid no serious buyers on screen.

The Index, however, found support over 43,000 level and pared losses as value hunters cherry-picked oil, financial and fertiliser shares, pushing KSE 100 Index up by more than 700 points from its intra-day low.

“We see volatile and choppy trading to continue in near-term as looming political uncertainty will likely keep gains in check,” Elixir Securities said. Highest volumes were witnessed in K-Electric with a turnover of 19.924 million shares. The share gained 32 paisas to close at Rs6.50/share. TRG Pakistan was the second with a turnover of 14.76 million shares. It rose 29 paisas to end at Rs36.13/share. Engro Polymer was the third with a turnover of 8.489 million shares. It shed 92 paisas to finish at Rs33.28/share.