Stocks fall on weak regional markets, political uncertainty

Stocks fell over one percent on Monday, tracking weaker regional markets while prevailing political uncertainty in the country further weakened investors’ sentiment, dealers said.
Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said stocks fell sharply lower on investor concerns over downgrades in the MSCI EM Index, ongoing political noise and falling global crude prices. “Surging trade deficit, uncertainty in global equities and uncertainty over outcome of the SC (Supreme Court) hearings in the NAB (national Accountability Bureau) petition involving former prime minister Nawaz Sharif played a catalytic role in bearish close.”
The Pakistan Stock Exchange benchmark KSE-100 shares index shed 1.29 percent or 527.47 points to close at 40,316.93 points. KSE-30 shares index shed 1.24 percent or 256.66 points to close at 20,405.85 points. As many as 350 scrips were active of which 68 advanced, 258 declined and 24 remained unchanged.
The ready market volumes stood at 94.109 million shares as compared with the turnover of 115.620 million shares a day earlier. Analyst at Elixir Securities said equities traded first day of the week negative with benchmark index sliding by 1.3 percent.
“Market witnessed a dull trading session with volumes and turnover dipping as investors traded selectively in absence of any triggers,” the analyst said. “Moreover, ongoing sit-in by religious parties near the federal capital calling for the sacking of law minister … also contributed to investor anxiety.”
Among the key sectors, only oils stood strong and supported the index but that too in the early hour; as the initial surge over weekend gains in global crude gave a good enough excuse for the investors to book profits in the sector.
Going forward, analysts expect weakness to persist and volatile trading in the near-term with institutional activity both from locals and foreigners being the only savior in the coming days.
Companies reflecting highest gains include Phillip Morris Pakistan up Rs137.07 to close at Rs2,878.57/share and Sapphire Textile up Rs80.28 to close at Rs1,795/share.
Companies reflecting most losses include Colgate Palmolive down Rs120 to close at Rs2,310/share and Shezan International down Rs24.99 to end at Rs475.01/share. Highest volumes were witnessed in TRG Pakistan with a turnover of 13.03 million shares. The scrip gained Rs1.55 to close at Rs35.24/share. Dost Steels was second with a turnover of 8.129 million shares. It gained 12 paisas to close at Rs13.42/share. Azgard Nine was third with a turnover of 6.29 million shares. It shed 56 paisas to finish at Rs15.10/share.