Stocks give up gains on political uncertainty

Stocks closed in red on Wednesday after posting a major recovery during the previous session, as political pressure continued to dampen the investor sentiments, dealers said.

“Concerns over outcome of Supreme Court review of JIT’s (joint investigation team) probe in panama case report played a catalyst role in bearish close,” said Ahsan Mehanti, an analyst at Arif Habib Corp.

“There was a pressure in blue-chip stocks on investor fears over foreign outflows,” Mehanti said. “Late session support, (however), remained in blue-chip oil and banking stocks on surge in global oil prices and reports of surging bank deposits.” 

KSE 100-share Index of Pakistan Stock Exchange closed lower 0.48 percent or 217.65 points to 45,418.71 points.

The highest index of the day remained at 45,808.57 points, while the lowest level of the day was recorded at 45,297.15 points. KSE 30-share Index also decreased 0.73 percent or 173.35 points to 23,670.28 points. Turnover expanded seven million shares to 165.51 million shares. Trading value fell to Rs8.94 billion from Rs9 billion, while market capital declined to Rs9.30 trillion from Rs9.32 trillion. Of 361 companies, 148 closed in black, 200 in red while 13 remained unchanged. Elixir Securities, in a report, said equities closed negative after three consecutive positive sessions that pushed the benchmark KSE 100 higher by more than 4.2 percent. 

“Wider market gave up some of the recent gains and most of the index names traded volatile and witnessed profit booking as politics continued to attract most attention,” said the brokerage.

Analysts said political noise is likely to overshadow earnings-related excitement.

“However, there is a strong possibility that the Supreme Court may decide on the ongoing case in days ahead; a move that may well bring an end to the stalemate,” an analyst said.  Engro Corporation (down 2.5 percent) dented the Index the most after the company ended a meeting of the board with no corporate action, while cement sector that gained the most on Tuesday topped the list of profit-takers.

Engro, UBL falling 1.4 percent, Luck decreasing 1.4 percent, Hubc dropping 1.5 percent and OGDC declining 1.3 percent aggregately pared 153 points. 

Dawood Hercules rising 4 percent, PPL increasing 1.4 percent, MARI surging 2.7 percent, Indu soaring 2.7 percent and APL climbing 4.4 percent contributed 99 points to the gains, said Topline Research in a report.

Highest increase was recorded in shares of Philip Morris Pak by Rs132.25 to Rs2,777.25/share followed by Wyeth Pak Ltd that was up Rs101.69 to Rs2,378.75 /share.

Major decrease was registered in shares of Bata (Pak) by Rs50 to Rs3,050/share, followed by Bhanero Textile that was down Rs42.75 to Rs812.25/share.

Significant turnover was recorded in stocks of TRG Pak Ltd, K-Electric Ltd, Engro Polymer, Sui Southern Gas Company Ltd, Azgard Nine, Aisha Steel Mill, Dewan Motors, Lotte Chemical, Dost Steels Ltd and International Steel Ltd.

TRG Pak Ltd remained the volume leader with 14.10 million shares with an increase of 13 paisas to Rs37.92/share. It was followed by K-Electric Ltd with 11.60 million shares with a decrease of 21 paisas to Rs6.48/share. Turnover in the future contracts fell to 36.52 million shares from 39.25 million shares traded in the previous session.