Banking sector leads decline

Pakistan Stock Exchange remained under pressure throughout the day Monday due to increasing political uncertainty and the start of the roll-over week. The benchmark KSE-100 index declined by 439.40 points to close at 40.852.03 points, weighed mainly by banking sector.
Trading activity remained low due to absence of retail investors. The daily trading volumes decreased to 277.925 million shares as compared to 529.533 million shares traded Friday last. The market capitalisation declined by Rs 81 billion to stand at Rs 8.348 trillion. Out of the total 440 scrips traded, 348 closed in negative, only 71 in positive while the value of 21 stocks remained unchanged.
Bank of Punjab was the volume leader with 35.208 million shares however it lost Rs 0.91 to close at Rs 17.25 followed by K-Electric that gained Rs 0.03 to close at Rs 9.12 with 21.498 million shares. PIAC (A) decreased by Rs 0.33 to close at Rs 9.15 with 11.591 million shares. Unilever Foods and Nestle Pakistan were the top gainers with Rs 192.00 and Rs 99.00, respectively to close at Rs 5,690.00 and Rs 8,399.00 while Wyeth Pak and Rafhan Maize were the top losers with Rs 100.37 and Rs 100.00, respectively to close at Rs 2687.14 and Rs 7600.00.
An analyst at Topline Securities said due to political uncertainty in the country and start of futures roll-over week from October 24, the index plunged by 439 points. The highest decline was in the banking sector, which contributed 89 points to the decline in the index.
An analyst at Global Securities said that the local bourse once again succumbed to political pressure over potential inquiry of the Panama Leaks. The market continued to remain under pressure throughout the day. The cement sector witnessed another bearish spell with most cement companies closing in the red as international coal prices touched another recent high of $85/MT. Apart from HBL, which contributed 23 points, commercial banks also came under pressure likely due to institutional and foreign selling. Other major gainers were HUBC and HASCOL, cumulatively contributed 24 points. The day''s laggards were UBL, ENGRO and MCB which eroded 93 points from the index.
Ahmed Saeed Khan at JS Global Capital said that volatility prevailed at the bourse as political noise continues to dent investors'' sentiments ahead of the street protest by PTI on November 02. Heavy weight oil and gas sector remained under pressure on the back of depressed crude oil prices as Iraq backed off from joining efforts to trim output to prop up crude oil prices. Cement sector showed some signs of recovery as news broke of cement manufacturers in South increasing prices by Rs 5/bag.