KARACHI - Bears continued their battering on Monday and the benchmark KSE-100 index concluded the session at the level of 46,593.34 with a substantial decline of 265.22 points.
Market opened on a positive note as the SECP allowed brokers to fund share purchases, however the positivity could not sustain as the benchmark index closed in red. Volatile trend was witnessed in the market as the index traded between an intraday high of 225 points and an intraday low of 546 points, analysts said.
The index witnessed another downward-choppy session. The market opened positive and peaked above 47,000 within the first ten minutes of trading. Bears quickly capitalised on the early strength and sold the market down to a low of 46,313 points (-546points/-1.2pc). Subsequently, value hunters swooped in and select buying on dips helped recoup some lost ground, observed analyst Adnan Sami Sheikh.
Worst index point performers were FFC (slip 3.4pc), HBL (1.1pc), SNGP (3.3pc), DGKC (2.6pc) and ENGRO (1.3pc), eroding 160 points, while OGDC (gain 1.6pc), MCB (1.7pc), POL (2.4pc), HUBC (1.4pc) and KTML (5pc) added 127 points. Within the sectors, Fertiliser shed 78 points, Cement 64 points, Auto Assembler 56 points, Bank 54 points and OMC’s 44 points; while E&P’s added 67 points, Textile 37 points, Technology 17 points & Power 17 points.
Fauji Fertiliser (FFC) fell to its lowest level since March 2009, on concerns of pricing power given the prevailing fertilizer glut. Stocks closed lower amid thin trade as institutional profit-taking continued in selected scrips across the board. Falling global crude prices, foreign outflows, dismal economic data on trade deficit and reports on falling banking spreads played a catalyst role in bearish close, said analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp.
Volume traded increased to 170 million as compared to 130 million in the previous trading session. While traded value rose 22 percent to Rs9.1 billion/$87.2 million.