Index down 173 points

The uncertainty on political front caused panic selling at share market on Monday and KSE-100 index witnessed heavy decline of 173.00 points to close at 11,849.46 points on the first trading session of the new year. Trading also shrank and the volume at ready counter declined to 91.184 million shares as compared to 144.263 million shares traded on last trading session of 2010.
Market capitalisation declined by Rs 55 billion to Rs 3.213 trillion. Of 379 active scrips, 291 closed in negative and 70 in positive, while the values of 18 scrips remained unchanged. Lotte Pakistan PTA was the volume leader with 11.545 million shares. However, it lost Re 0.27 to close at Rs 13.43.
NBP and UBL declined by Rs 2.74 and Rs 2.64 to close at Rs 74.08 and Rs 65.59 with 7.388 million shares and 2.378 million shares respectively. KESC inched up by Re 0.15 to close at Rs 2.96 with 6.168 million shares. Dewan Salman lost Re 0.10 to close at Rs 2.89 with 4.311 million shares.
Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim declined by Re 0.65 to close at Rs 35.08 with 4.084 million shares. DG Khan Cement decreased by Rs 1.12 to close at Rs 29.05 with 2.817 million shares. Nishat Mills declined by Rs 1.76 to close at Rs 62.41 with 2.806 million shares. Jahangir Siddiqui Co lost Re 0.48 to close at Rs 10.42 with 2.774 million shares. Azgard Nine decreased by Re 0.32 to close at Rs 9.34 with 2.763 million shares.
Nestle Pakistan and Colgate Palmolive were the highest gainers increasing by Rs 46.14 and Rs 11.57 to close at Rs 2421.00 and Rs 934.57 respectively, while Siemens Pak and Unilever Pak were the worst losers declining by Rs 50.97 and Rs 44.96 to close at Rs 1202.54 and Rs 4315.21 respectively. Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Investments said that bearish activity was witnessed on rising political uncertainty after a major coalition partner decided to sit in opposition in National Assembly.
Gas shortage for listed corporate sector companies, rising fiscal deficit and CPI inflation also affected market sentiment and invited panic selling. Local investors opted to offload their holdings. However, foreign participants'' interest continued and they took fresh positions despite uncertainty on political front.