Karachi stocks drift back into losses on futures roll-over

Karachi stocks on Tuesday drifted back into losses as investors felt jittery over the upcoming budget and on futures roll-over, dealers said.
Analyst Mohammad Rizwan at Topline Securities said activity remained dull at the local bourse as investors stayed on the sidelines in the run up to budget 2015/16 and futures roll-over.
The benchmark Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share Index shed 196.87 points, or 0.60 percent, to close at 32,510.35 points.
KSE-30 shares index lost 145.29 points, or 0.70 percent, to end at 20,683.01 points.
As many as 326 scrips were active; of which 107 advanced, 195 declined and 24 remained unchanged.
The ready market volumes stood at 98.527 million shares as compared to 179.468 million shares in the last trading session.
Analysts said the index is likely to remain volatile as investors are worried ahead of the budget.
Analyst Umair Hasan at JS Global Capital said as the date for the budget announcement is coming closer the market continued to undergo bearish sentiments.
After Monday’s run in highly-leveraged cement scrips, profit-taking was witnessed in DG Khan Cement, Fauji Cement, Maple Leaf Cement and Cherat Cement. They all ended on lower side.
Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Commodities said cement stocks saw disinvestment as investors felt uncertain over the government’s allocations for development in the next federal budget.
With global oil prices stabilising, Pakistan State Oil, Pakistan Oilfields and Oil and Gas Development Company ended marginally down.
The recent discount rate cut upset banking sector.
MCB, NBP, Bank Al Habib and HBL inched down. However, a few undervalued shares, such as ABL and UBL clawed back some losses.
Investors took fresh positions in Pak Elektron after the management unveiled its aggressive future plans.
Highest volumes were witnessed in Pak Elektron with a turnover of 23.286 million shares.
The scrip rose Rs1.87 to close at Rs 67.01/share. It was followed by Habib Bank with a turnover of 4.934 million shares. It inched down 87 paisas to end at Rs193.06/share.
Fauji Cement was the third with a turnover of 4.536 million shares. It lost 35 paisas to finish at Rs32.83/share.