Profit-taking ends short-lived rally at stock market

KARACHI - Profit taking sentiment discontinued the upward movement of KSE-100 index on Wednesday as the benchmark KSE-100 index shed 54 points.
The index moved on a high tide breaching the 7,400 height but stormy winds came in from opposite direction, which resulted in index negative closing.
The 100 index gained 26.56 points at the opening and touched days highest level at 7,435 points but it was unable to maintain the positive stance in the end, closing 54.30 points down at 7,242.60 points.
Trading activity was healthier as the ready market volume surged to 219.535m shares against last trading sessions 124.619m shares. Total trading value of the market climbed up to 13.013b rupees in contrast with last sessions 5.641b rupees.
Of 338 active scrips at the KSE, 115 advanced, 207 declined while worth of the shares of 16 cos remained unchanged. Market capitalization decreased to Rs2.156 trillion from Rs2.171 trillion of last trading session.
Wednesdays market volumes were quite encouraging as market registered trading of more than 219 million shares. Surprisingly JSCL topped the volume leaders list with exceptional volumes. MCB was closed near its lower cap while rest of the top ten stocks showed direction less behavior.
Top traded shares include Jahangir Siddiqui with 22.641m shares, National Bank of Pakistan 14.025m shares, Lucky Cement 12.395m shares, MCB 10.740m shares, OGDC 10.372m shares, Fauji Fertilizer Co 10.205m shares, Arif Habib Securities 10.084m shares, FFBL 8.929m shares, Bank Al-Falah 7.688m shares, Engro Chemical 7.060m shares namely.
Prominent gainers at the KSE include Nestle Pakistan and it gained Rs40/share, closing at Rs1,040 with the trading of only 200 shares, Siemens Pakistan (SPOT) added Rs20.75/share and closed at Rs948.50, Unilever Pakistan gained rs15/share and closed at Rs1,965, Millat Tractors closed at Rs259.34, up Rs9.20/share, Hinopak Motor added Rs7.81/share and closed at Rs164.11, Pak Oilfields gained Rs6.75/share and closed at Rs150.25.
On the other hand, Wyeth Pakistan lost Rs25/share, closing at Rs1,325 with the trading of only 60 shares, Dreamworld down by Rs10/share and closed at Rs202, National Refinery lost Rs8.96/share and closed at Rs188.14, MCB Bank lost Rs8.92/share, closing at Rs172.77, Attock Refinery closed at Rs129.31, down by Rs6.80/share, Mari Gas Company lost Rs4.14/share and closed at Rs145.06.