KARACHI
Political unrest in the country ahead of the Inqilab and Azadi March scheduled on Independence Day (August 14) brought panic to the local bourse as KSE 100-share index lost 1309.09 points on Monday, the biggest-ever single day fall in the history of Karachi Stock Exchange.
Aqeel Karim Dhedhi told The Nation that continued political unrest would further destabilize the country’s economic activities, suggesting that talks are the only solution to bring the market back on track. He said that there is a need to resolve the issues creating troubles for economy.
This was the biggest fall in the history of stock market, Dhedhi said. “Market would be locked if index misplaced by 5 per cent but it remains unlocked because the fall was 4.6pc.”
Nadeem Molvi, Director MM Securities, said most of the local investors started selling due to the current political turmoil. He said that situation is not as much worst as it has been portrayed by the media. He ruled out the possibility ahead of the escape of the foreign investors, explaining that investors have long term strategy and it would be difficult for them to leave the country in such normal political situation. He advised to the local investors to remain active as market will progress again after August 14, 2014.
At KSE, trading took place in 376 companies where 14 companies closed in green and 353 in red while the values of 9 companies remained intact. Rafhan Maize and Nestle Pak were the biggest price losers of the day, decreased by Rs 540 to Rs 10260 and Rs 380 to Rs 7220. Indus Dyeing and Khyber Tobacco were the top price gainers of the day, increased by Rs 19.70 to Rs 698 and Rs 8.75 to Rs 377.90. The KSE 100-index closed at 28071.41 points as compared to 29380.50 points of the last working day on Friday.
KSE-allshare shed 935.64 points or 4.34 per cent to end the day at 20626.87 points, KSE-30 lost 892.02 points or 4.37 per cent to finish the trading at 19537.67 points while KMI-30 index fell by 1998.93 points or 4.21 per cent to stop the trading at 45461.10 points.
Investors’ fears on political turmoil played a catalyst role in bearish activity amid hopes for outcome of government strategy to deal with rallies, an analyst observed.
Volumes remained at 215.626 million shares after opening at 71.946 million shares and the value of traded shares settled at Rs 8.897 billion from Rs 4.136 billion. Capitalization of the market maintained at Rs 6.605 trillion as compared to Rs 6.906 trillion of the previous session.
Active list was topped by Lafarge Pak with 19.706 million shares as it closed at Rs 15.07 after opening at Rs 14.80. BOP was the second highest on volume chart with 18.306 million shares, off by Re 0.63 to Rs 7.57. It was followed by Fauji Cement with 12.266 million shares, decreased by Re 0.15 to Rs 19, K-Electric with 9.855 million shares, down by Re 0.26 to Rs 6.74, and Lotte Chemical with 8.764 million shares, fell by Re 0.52 to Rs 6.53.