KSE loses 25.48 points

The KSE-100 index on Monday lost 25.48 points and closed at the level of 11,974.55 points due to political uncertainty that forced the investors to offload their holdings after mid-session. Although the market witnessed strong positive opening where the index hit 12,157.48 points intra-day high level, up 157.45 points, however, the investors opted for selling after mid-session and index dropped to 11,913.45 points intra-day low level.
Trading activities also remained low as the volumes at ready counter declined to 116.942 million shares as compared to 187.492 million shares traded on last trading session. The overall market capitalisation declined by Rs 7 billion to stand at Rs 3.226 trillion. Out of the total 368 active scrips, 162 close in negative and 121 in positive while the value of 85 scrips remained unchanged.
Lotte Pakistan PTA, the volume leader with 17.762 million shares, however lost Re 0.41 to close at Rs 15.57. Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim gained Re 0.42 to close at Rs 43.11 with 10.309 million shares. In the banking sector, JS Bank inched up by Re 0.07 to close at Rs 3.10 with 6.973 million shares, however NBP lost Rs 1.41 to close at Rs 79.16 with 6.327 million shares.
Sui Southern Gas Company gained Re 0.13 to close at Rs 25.41 with 5.059 million shares. Pace Pak lost Re 0.03 to close at Rs 2.83 with 4.686 million shares. Arif Habib Corp inched up by Re 0.01 to close at Rs 21.67 with 4.191 million shares. Nishat Mills declined by Rs 1.55 to close at Rs 64.30 with 3.865 million shares. Jahangir Siddiqui Co decreased by Re 0.43 to close at Rs 9.32 with 3.836 million shares. Azgard Nine lost Re 0.28 to close at Rs 9.25 with 3.631 million shares.
Rafhan Maize and Unilever Pak were the highest gainers, increasing by Rs 25.78 and Rs 13.34 to close at Rs 2745.80 and Rs 4713.37 respectively, while Wyeth Pak and Bata Pak were the worst losers declining by Rs 40.59 and Rs 15.06 to close at Rs 940.00 and Rs 535.98 respectively. Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Investments said that the market opened on a strong positive note and the investors took fresh positions in various sectors, however, momentum could not continue due to rising political uncertainty.
On the other hand, limited foreign interest and fall in global capital markets on unrest in Libya and Middle East also affected market sentiments negatively. The investors' concerns for rising circular debt in Pakistan energy sector also was another reason of negative activity after mid-session despite rising global commodity prices and increasing oil prices over $118, he added.