KARACHI - Bear again rule the roost at stock market on Wednesday as the benchmark KSE-100 lost 462 points to close at 47,608.64 points.
The index witnessed another rocky session; it opened on a bullish note carrying momentum from yesterday’s close. However, it was short lived as within half an hour of trading the index peaked at 48.6k (up 1.1pc). Subsequently, bears gained control jumping at the opportunity to exit positions ahead of the prime minister’s historic appearance before JIT tomorrow (Thursday). The day’s gains were erased halfway into the session and by the end of it the KSE-100 closed down 462 points wiping out yesterday’s gains as well, said analyst Adnan Sami Sheikh.
Worst index point performers were ENGRO (slip 2.5pc), HUBC (1.8pc), POL (3pc), OGDC (1.4pc) and LUCK (1.2pc), eroding 167 points, while HBL (gain 1.9pc), DGKC (2.2pc), BAHL (1.3pc), FATIMA (3.3pc) and AICL (2.3pc) added 117 points to the index. Within the sectors, Fertiliser shed 82 points, E&P’s 74 points, OMC’s 67 points, Power 48 points, Cement 43 points and Engineering 28 points, while Banks added 29 points. EPCL (rose 5pc) continued to rally due to duty protection, while investors rushed to sell DSL (slump 7pc) in light of yesterday’s notice.
Analyst Arhum Ghous said positivity in the initial hours of the trading session came from the news that the government brought favourable changes in the new CGT structure for equity investors. However, oil stocks shed points as oil fell in the international commodity market. OGDC (slip 1.38pc), POL (3.04pc), and PPL (0.30pc) from the Oil sector closed in red. Commercial bank heavyweights including MCB (down 1.35pc) and UBL (0.06pc) lost to the declining prices in the market. However, HBL (gain 1.87pc) from the aforementioned sector closed in the green zone due to attractive valuations and investor optimism. EPCL opened on its upper circuit on the back of previous day's news regarding the antidumping duty imposed on PVC Resin imports.
Weak global crude prices, withdrawal of Shanghai Electric K-electric offer stake and concerns for likely fall in banking sector income amid falling banking spreads played a catalyst role in bearish close, observed analyst Ahsan Mehanti. Volumes fell 19 percent, while traded value shed 30 percent.