Karachi stocks fall on regional weaknesses

Karachi stocks on Wednesday fell as investors mainly booked profits in oils and cements on weak global oil prices and growing political tension, dealers said. Analyst Faisal Bilwani at Elixir Securities said equities closed negative after testing 36,300 as investors turned bearish on turmoil in regional markets. The benchmark Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100- share Index shed 313.17 points, or 0.86 percent, to close at 35,892.77 points. KSE 30- share Index lost 252.30 points, or 1.13 percent, to finish at 22,150.28 points. As many as 391 scrips were active; of which 132 advanced, 253 declined and six remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 359.96 million shares as compared to 328.299 million shares in the last trading session. Dealers said plunge in global stocks and commodities on china’s currency devaluation dampened the sentiments despite upbeat auto sale data and record earnings in banking and fertiliser sectors. Highest decline was witnessed in Bata Pakistan by Rs129.44 to Rs3,315/share and Hinopak Motors that fell Rs57.96 to end at Rs1,138.57/share. Index heavy oil and financials dented the benchmark the most. Profit taking was witnessed in the cement sector. Maple Leaf was down 1.5 percent, DGKC inched down 1.1 percent and Pioneer Cement fell 1.6 percent. Due to depressed global oil prices, the oil and gas sector remained under pressure throughout the day. “Institutional profit taking witnessed at KSE on political uncertainty after leaders of major political party submitted resignations from provincial, senate and national assemblies,” Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Commodities said. Companies reflecting highest increase included Rafhan Maize surging Rs398.89 to close at Rs9,800 and Wyeth Pakistan up Rs50 to end at Rs2,400. Major supports of the index were pharmaceutical stocks with Glaxo up 5.0 percent and Searl up 1.5 percent. Highest volumes were witnessed in Pace Pakistan with a turnover of 39.652 million shares. The scrip gained 55 paisas to close at Rs7.75. It was followed by Silk Bank (Rights) with a turnover of 32.529 million shares. It shed six paisas to end at Rs0.14/share. K-Electric Limited was the third with a turnover of 21.796 million shares. It inched down 10 paisas to finish at Rs8.07/share.