Stocks sucked deeper into rupee spiral

Stocks on Wednesday were sucked deeper into the downward spiral owing to rupee tailspin with foreign as well as local exits remaining the order of the day, traders said.

Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE 100-share Index dropped 174.62 points or 0.37 percent to 46,716.72 points, exploring a high of 46,949.56 points and a low of 46,503.69 points.

Brokerage Arif Habib Ltd, in a report said the market continued the downtrend as rupee-dropped to 169.70 in interbank versus dollar and crossed 170 in open market.

“Unabated foreign selling coincided with local mutual funds disposing positions on the pretext of redemptions,” the brokerage said.

KSE-30 Shares index lost 43.13 points or 0.23 percent to close at 18,559.73 points.

Muhammad Arbash at Topline Securities said after a slightly positive opening the market made an intraday low of 386 points as dollar touched a historic peak of 169.20 in the interbank market.

Cement sector was the major decliner as MLCF, LUCK, DGKC, and CHCC closed lower. On the other hand, UBL and TRG together supported the index by 52 points, Arbash added.

Trade volume shrank by 147 million shares to 332.78 million. Trade value fell to Rs11.43 billion from Rs15.04 billion. Market capital eased to Rs8.151 trillion from Rs8.175 trillion. Out of 518 activities in the session, 161 posted gains, 329 losses, while 28 remained neutral.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said stocks closed lower on investor concerns over foreign outflows amid MSCI downgrade and slumping rupee. Surging circular debt,

likely hike in local POL prices, impacting corporate earnings and uncertainty over rupee stability drove the stocks down, Mehanti said.

In terms of gains Allawasaya Textiles was on top, jumping Rs116.84 to Rs1,674.93 per share, followed by Wyeth Pak Ltd rising Rs28 to Rs1,678 per share.

Bhanero Textile was the major loser as it fell Rs80 to Rs1,020 per share, followed by Nestle Pakistan, dropping Rs54.51 to Rs6,100.50 per share.

Cement, E&P, O&GMCs, refinery sectors bore the brunt of persistent selling.

Limited buying interest was observed in technology stocks which came down in the past couple of sessions.

Stocks that contributed positively to the index included UBL (+30 points), TRG (+22 points), FFBL (+15 points), BAHL (+15 points) and FABL (+12 points). Major laggards were MLCF (-21 points), HMB (-18 points), SYS (-17 points), AGP (-17 points), and MEBL (-16 points).

TPL Corp Ltd led volumes chart with 29.62 million shares. The stock gained Rs1.68 to close at Rs24.67 per share.

Telecard Limited with 28.25 million shares was the second highest traded script. It lost Rs1.19 to settle down at Rs23.17 per share.

Stocks that recorded significant turnover included Byco Petroleum, Service Fabrics (R), WorldCall Telecom, TPL Properties, Fauji Fertilizers Bin, Treet Corp, Unity Foods Ltd, and Maple Leaf. Turnover in the future contracts decreased to 107.95 million shares from 156.75 million.