KSE turns volatile

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) Tuesday witnessed a volatile session following the State Bank's surprise announcement that the monetary policy will be unveiled on Wednesday (today). The KSE-100 Index shed 78.62 points to close at 23,302.46 against 23,381.08 Monday. The index touched 23,532 highest and 23,273 lowest levels during the intra-day trading. The market capitalisation stood at Rs5.531 trillion against Rs5.533 trillion. The trading side also closed lower and the volume at the ready counter ended at 163.626 million shares from 205.244 million shares.

Commenting on the market performance, analysts said the local shares market lost its initial gains on the second day of new week as investors are expecting increase in the policy rate in MPS due today.

They said the renewed buying interest was seen in banking sector which will benefit from rising interest rate. Cement stocks saw heavy battering being leverage companies, they added.

With the market volume of 163mn shares, Bank of Punjab led the volume with 18.5mn shares followed by FCCL 17mn shares and JSCL 12mn shares, they said.

Analyst said the market saw a volatile session due to State Bank's sudden announcement that the monetary policy will be held Wednesday. Traders shed short term positions in anticipation of a larger than expected policy rate hike as OGDC -1.1 percent, PPL -1.0 percent and PSO -2.9 percent were the major decliners for the day, they added.

Out of total 339 active stocks, some 136 scrips witnessed positive trend, 178 lost their worth while 25 remained unchanged.

Two top gainers for the day were Nestle Pak XD, which shot up by Rs299.75 to Rs7299.75 and Wyeth Pak, which climbed by Rs131 to Rs4267.25. The top losers were Sanofi-Aventis, which lost Rs22 to Rs418 and Colgate Palmolive, which shed Rs17.25 to Rs1500.

Of the Top 10 volume leaders, B.O. Punjab led the tally with 18m shares gaining seven paisa to close at Rs10.95. Fauji Cement XD closed at Rs12.50 with an addition of 12 paisa on a volume of some 16m shares; Jahangir Siddiqui Company moved up by four paisa to close at Rs9.49 on 12m shares.

National Bank gained 19 paisa to close at Rs53.70 on 9m shares; DGK Cement XD witnessed an addition of 24 paisa to close at Rs72.69 on 8m shares; and Maple Leaf Cement gained 18 paisa to Rs23.15 on 7m shares.

Engro Corporation gained 60 paisa to close at Rs136.50 on 6m shares; PTCLA bagged 14 paisa to close at Rs27.89 on 5m shares; Lafarge Pak saw an increase of one paisa to close at Rs6.99 on 4m shares; and IGI Inv. Bank gained nine paisa to Rs1.63 on 3m shares.