Karachi Stock Exchange witnessed a volatile session Thursday and closed lower following selling pressure at the fag end. The KSE-100 Index lost 16.79 points to close at 23,784.18 against 23,800.97 Wednesday. The volume at the ready counter slipped to 144.347 million shares from 245.399 million shares. However, the market capitalisation witnessed an increase and stood at Rs 5.645 trillion against Rs 5.636 trillion.
Commenting on the market performance, Ahsan Mehnati, an analyst at Arif Habib Corp said that stocks closed lower amid institutional profit-taking in overbought market. Uncertainty in global stocks and commodities impacted the foreign interest despite hopes for privatisation of SOEs and 3G auctions in telecom sector, he added.
He said trade remained higher amid consolidation in selected stocks across the board awaiting triggers on political front after calls for a sit-in against Nato supplies to curb drone attacks. Out of 330 active stocks, 143 scrips went up, 159 went down and that of 28 remained unchanged. Two top achievers for the day were Unilever Foods XD, which shot up by Rs 360.27 to Rs 7565.67 and Nestle Pak XD, which climbed by Rs 200 to Rs 7750.
The top losers were Indus Dyeing, which shed Rs 17.24 to Rs 983.70 and Abbot Lab, which lost Rs 5.26 to Rs 439.50. Of the top 10 volume leaders, PTCLA led the tally with 16m shares, gaining three paisa to close at Rs 29.94; Pak Elektron closed at Rs 17.52, moving up by 19 paisa on 8m shares; and Engro Corporation fell by 88 paisa to close at Rs 147 on a volume of 8m shares.
Fauji Cement XD managed to stay in green circle with an increase of two paisa and closed at Rs 13.09 on 7m shares; DGK Cement XD bagged 18 paisa to close at Rs 75.65 on 7m shares; and Jahangir Siddiqui Company rose by seven paisa to Rs 9.24 on 5m shares. Nishat Mills XD witnessed a gain of 12 paisa to close at Rs 106 on 5m shares; PIAC (A) gained 31 paisa to close at Rs 8.20 on some 4m shares; Engro Foods shed 47 paisa to close at Rs 90.55 on 4m shares; and Maple Leaf Cement improved by five paisa to Rs 24.50 on 3m shares.
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