Karachi stocks retreat 3 percent as buyers fret regulator’s probe

KARACHI: The Karachi stocks on Monday suffered their biggest daily decline in the last five weeks on worries over a fresh probe launched by the regulator and key anti-corruption body to curb sub-account transactions by brokerages, dealers said.
The benchmark Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share Index closed lower by 1,023.94 points, or 3.05 percent, to 32,506.36 points against 33,530.30 points recorded in the last session. The highest index of the day remained at 33,541.59 points, while the lowest level of the day was recorded at 32,416.49 points. KSE-30 Index also dropped 679.85 points, or 3.15 percent, to 20,900.00 points against 21,579.85 points.
The index gloomy position coincided with the rosy picture of the economy painted by the finance minister on the eve of release of a loan tranche from the International Monetary Fund.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) set up a joint task force to speed up the probe into the cases, including one related to an alleged fraud by a KSE’s broker ACE Securities (Private) Limited, a statement said. The brokerage is alleged for handling of securities entered in the sub-accounts maintained under its participant ID without authority of the sub-account holders in violation of laws, it added. The KSE had suspended operations of all trading terminals of the securities company on April 27.
Broker Zafar Moti said the government’s move triggered panic selling. “The action created bad taste in the mouth,” Moti said. “Investors also feared new taxes in the upcoming budget.”
Turnover increased by 53 million shares to 235.31 million shares as against 182.88 million shares; trading value rose to Rs12.34 billion from Rs8.01 billion and the market capital shrank to Rs7.11 trillion as compared to Rs7.30 trillion recorded in the last session. Of a total of 347 companies’ active in the session, 33 closed in black, 300 in red and 14 remained unchanged.
Brokers said the market will remain volatile in the near future and they recommend investors to stay on the sidelines
“Market’s downfall was mainly attributed to the news of NAB and SECP becoming active in investigating insider trading within the major financial entities,” said Umair Hasan, analyst at JS Research.
In its post market report, the Topline research said the index witnessed its biggest fall after March 30, 2015 when it shed 1,030 points, or 3.4 percent.
Analyst Mohammad Rizwan at Topline Securities said the market sharply fell due to reports about government’s investigations. Almost 30 stocks fell five percent to reach their lower limit, including Lucky Cement, Maple Leaf Cement, Engro Corp, Engro Foods, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd and Pak Elektron.
The Supreme Court’s decision of suspending re-polling in a controversial constituency of the incumbent minister gave a temporary sigh of relief, Rizwan said.
All major sectors, including cements, banks and oil and gas stocks led the index fall. Particularly, oil and gas sector was hit hard as Hascol Petroleum, Pakistan State Oil, Shell Petroleum, Pak Oilfields Ltd and Byco Petroleum ended 5 percent, 5 percent, 3.9 percent, 4.4 percent and 6.3 percent lower, respectively.
Highest increase was recorded in shares of Service Ltd XD Rs6.00 to Rs756.00/share, followed by Ghandhara Nissan that rose by Rs3.60 to Rs86.97/share. Major decrease was registered in shares of Unilever Foods by Rs319.00 to Rs7750.50/share, followed by Siemens Pak that fell by Rs57.78 to Rs1,097.93/share.
Significant turnover was recorded in stocks of K-Electric Ltd, Byco Petroleum, Pak Elektron, Fauji Cement, TRG Pak Ltd, Engro Fertilizers XD, Jahangir Siddiqui Co, Bank of Punjab, Engro Corporation and Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd.
K-Electric Ltd remained the volume leader with 22.90 million shares with a drop of 46 paisas to Rs7.15/share. It was followed by Byco Petroleum with 21.92 million shares with a fall of 85 paisas to Rs12.65/share. Shares’ turnover in the futures market increased to 32.99 million shares from 15.70 million shares traded in the previous session.