KARACHI - Bearish sentiments persisted at stock market on Wednesday. The benchmark 100-index lost 182.21 points (0.46%) to close at 39809.58 points.
Banking shares of HBL, MCB and NBP contributed 74 points to the index fall. Investor interest was seen in the automobile sector on the back of depreciating Yen. PSMC and HCAR were top performers of the aforementioned sector, as they gained to close on their respective upper circuits. OGDC (down 1.11%), PPL (0.09%) and POL (0.32%) in the E&P sector lost value to close in the red zone, as crude oil prices declined to trade around $46 in anticipation that there will be surge in US oil inventory data, dealers said.
SHEL (up 5%) in the OMC sector gained on the back of announcement made by the company that it will add 15 more retail outlets to its existing network of 780 outlets. DGKC announced its FY16 result in which it posted EPS of Rs20.06/share along with a cash dividend of Rs6/share. Earning posted by the cement manufacturer was 15% YoY higher on the back strong local dispatch numbers and consistently low input cost incurred by the company during FY16. The stock though declined on the announcement of a 2.5m tons expansion that surprised investors, observed analyst Nabeel Haroon at JS Global.
Volumes decreased by 17% to 350m shares, while value decreased by 13.6% to Rs11.4b/$109m.
KEL led the volumes with 32m shares traded. Stock declined by 0.1%. Interest was seen in autos as PSMC and HCAR closed at their upper limit of 5% in expectation of improved sales numbers.
DGKC announced EPS of 19.52/share along with cash dividend of 6 /share. Stock declined by 1.06%, stated dealers at Topline brokerage.