KARACHI - Stocks fell sharply on first trading day of the week, Monday, due to economic concerns. The benchmark KSE 100-share index succumbed to pressure and closed down at 42,347 points after declining by 586 points.
Selling pressure was witnessed across the board on tensed political situation. On the economic front, World Bank has put $250m worth of policy loan for Pakistan on hold due to concerns over Pakistan’s weakening macroeconomic framework, said dealer at JS Global.
Investors’ interest was seen in PIAA on the news of Emirates and Eithad Airways showing interest in buying PIA stake. Yesterday's major laggards at the bourse were HBL (down 2.23%), UBL (2.33%), FFC (3.33%), POL (3.11%), PPL (1.53%), PSO (3.22%) and MCB (1.10%), accumulatively taking away 285 points from the index.
The engineering sector remained under the hammer as the sector closed in red, where INIL (down 5%), ISL (4.60%), CSAP (4.48%) and ASTL (2.72%) declined the most.
On the sector front, banks shed 150 points, E&Ps 74 points, fertilizer 51 points, OMCs 45 points, engineering 43 points, power 29 points, tech 24 points & cement lost 21 points, whereas no major sectors were positive.
As expected, investors were clearly spooked by upcoming street protests by opposition parties (from January 17), hence opting to remain on the sidelines. Despite WTI crude oil trading well above $64/bbl, little support was seen from E&Ps besides OGDC, stated at Topline Securities.
Participation receded significantly where volumes were down 44% d/d to 130m shares. Similarly, traded value was down by 45% to Rs5.8b. Excluding Jan 1st, this is lowest activity since December 20, 2017, confirming end of Santa rally.
Traded volumes decreased by 45% DoD to 130m shares in trading session while value traded plummeted to $53m.
Top volume stocks were ANL (up 2.34%), TRG (down 5%), PIAA (up 23%) and PAEL (down 3.53). Brokers expect the market to remain under pressure on the back of political fiasco.
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