KARACHI
The Karachi stock market on Tuesday witnessed volatile session as the index juggled 577 points between red and green to finally close down by 270.17 points or 0.78pc down and settled at 34,356.34 points.
Following the news of gas tariff hike, the fertilizer sector and initially the cement sector witnessed pressure, although the cement sector recovered to close mostly in the green as the increase in gas tariff is expected to be passed on to the customers by the cement manufacturers.
Major laggards of the fertilizer sector today were FFBL down 4.43pc and FFC by 3.1pc. On the other hand gas utilities, SSGC and SNGP closed at their respective upper limits, observed analyst Ahmed Saeed Khan at JS Global.
Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp stated stocks closed bearish on institutional profit taking after dismal earnings announcements in the oil sector.
Likely hit on corporate earnings by OGRA announcement for increase in gas prices up to 38.5pc, FBR increase in sales tax on petroleum products, uncertainty in global stocks and rising political uncertainty played a catalyst role in bearish activity post major earning announcements at KSE, he added.
Traded volume stood at 354m shares with value worth Rs16.7b/ $161m.
Out of total 371 traded companies in the session, 106 settled in advance, 247 in decline while 18 went unchanged.
Major activities were witnessed in the stock of Dewan Cement which emerged as volume leader with 43.6m shares, followed by Sui North Gas with 15.3m shares and Pace (Pak) with 13.7m shares.