Stocks lose 1.77pc as North Korea spooks world equities

Stocks extended losses on Tuesday with the benchmark Index falling nearly two percent as investors offloaded their positions taking cue from sell-off in world markets, dealers said.

“Panic selling continued amid global equities sell-off, while dismal fertiliser sales for July played a catalytic role in bearish close,” said Ahsan Mehanti, an analyst at Arif Habib Corp.  Concerns over Pakistan-US relations and a proposed penalty on Habib Bank by a US regulator also dented market sentiments.

The KSE 100-share Index of Pakistan Stock Exchange shed 1.77 percent or 741.14 points to close at 41,233.08 points. KSE 30-share Index fell 2.12 percent or 457.94 points to end at 21,186.70 points. As many as 306 shares were active; of which 61 increased, 306 decreased and 13 remained unchanged.

The ready market volume stood at 130.146 million shares as compared to 103.176 million shares a day earlier. Elixir Securities, in a report, said the index heavy Habib Bank closed limit down for a second straight session. Over 1.5 million of its shares traded off-market with most volume going through at Rs155/share, 21 percent below day’s lower limit and 29 percent below Friday’s close.

Wider market also carried bearish momentum and skidded lower with general lack of interest both from institutional and retail investors culminating in a dismal volume on KSE All Index. Analysts see choppy trade to continue on lower overall activity as investors will likely trade cautiously and wait for market to find a stable ground during remaining days of the current short week.

Companies reflecting highest gains included Unilever Foods up Rs300 to close at Rs6,550/share and Philip Morris Pakistan that rose Rs33.99 to end at Rs2,956.67/share. Companies with most losses included Bata Pakistan down Rs154.26 to end at Rs2,930.99/share and Mari Petroleum that fell Rs79.95 to close at Rs1,519.05/share. Highest volume was witnessed in TRG Pakistan with a turnover of 15.99 million shares. Its share value shed Rs1.7 to close at Rs34.47/share.

Azgard Nine was the second with a turnover of 13.883 million shares. It fell Re1 to end at Rs13.89/share. Sui Southern Gas was the third with a turnover of 7.726 million shares. It gained 88 paisas to finish at Rs38.46/share.