Stocks close down as corruption probe weighs

Stock fell on Tuesday, despite general market optimism, as jitters over an anti-corruption probe against the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family dampened investors sentiment, dealers said.

An analyst at Topline Securities said stocks failed to maintain positive trajectory, as political turbulence again started its negative influence on the market.

“Investor sentiment turned bearish after approval of NAB’s (National Accountability Bureau) executive board to initiate inquiry on Chaudhry sugar mill scandal and to file three supplementary references against (former prime minister) Nawaz Sharif,” the analyst added.

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 shares index shed 0.28 percent or 123.98 points to close at 43,705.10 points. KSE-30 shares index shed 0.43 percent or 94.39 points to close at 21,996.15 points. As many as 371 scrips were active of which 143 advanced, 205 declined and 23 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 177.59 million shares as compared with the turnover of 137.04 million shares a day earlier.

Analyst Ali Raza at Elixir Securities said equities closed lower after benchmark index met resistance at 44,000 points level.

“Market opened on a cheerful note in line with the higher regional markets, with cements leading gains on strong institutional flows following another round of reported increase in cement prices in North. However, index tested intra-day high over 44,000 point psychological barrier and failed to sustain that level for long as losses in other index heavy names dented the index,” he added.

Habib Bank down 1.6 percent, MCB Bank down 0.5 percent, Pakistan Oilfields down 0.5 percent, and Engro Corp down 1.2 percent saw selling.

Later, cements too pared morning gains on profit-taking and closed mostly in red. On the corporate front, Engro Polymer, down 4.6 percent hit the lower price limit with investors fearing a possible right issue in the coming days.

Going forward, analysts see news flow on economic and political fronts to guide the market.

Companies with the highest gains included Unilever Foods, up Rs200 to close at Rs9,300/share, and Bata Pakistan, up Rs126 to close at Rs2,910/share.

Companies showing the most losses included Bhanero Textile, down Rs42.60 to close at Rs810/share, and United Brands, down Rs25.15 to end at Rs482.63/share.

Highest volumes were witnessed in Fauji Cement with a turnover of 12.14 million shares. The scrip gained 39 paisas to close at Rs28.96/share. Unity Foods was second with a turnover of 10.09 million shares. It gained Rs1.31 to close at Rs27.58/share. Dost Steels was third with a turnover of 9.96 million shares. It shed 33 paisas to close at Rs12.32/share.