Stocks edged lower in a volatile session Friday as concerns about political uncertainty kept the investors jittery. The benchmark KSE-100 index lost another 35 points to close at 29,318 points. Samar Iqbal, AVP at Topline Securities, said that cherry picking in main board stocks helped the index to close marginally negative.
The index closed lower, while volume declined to 55 million shares whereas value remained at Rs 2.7 billion. Mari Petroleum closed at lower circuit breaker after Finance Minister refused the proposal to change its pricing formula. NIB Bank, BAFL and NPL remained the most active scrips, she added.
During the intra-day trading, the index reached 29,383.30 points highest and 29,298.59 points lowest level. Following a bearish trend, volume at the ready counter fell to 54.86 million shares compared to 66.73 million shares in previous session. Market capitalisation decreased by Rs 9 billion to Rs 6.901 trillion against Rs 6.910 trillion Thursday.
Trading took place in 295 companies, of which 135 closed in green zone, 134 in red while 26 landed in blue zone. Ahsan Mehanti, an analyst at Arif Habib Corporation, said stocks closed lower amid thin trade on concerns for political uncertainty. Disagreements over Mari Petroleum restructuring plan, expectations for status quo in State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) policy announcement to July 19 on inflationary pressures played a catalytic role in the bearish activity, he said.
Record remittances data of $15.8 billion in 2013-14, falling coal prices favouring cement sector and strong earnings outlook in energy sector positively impacted the sentiment at KSE, Ahsan added. Among top 10 volume leaders, six companies recorded positive trend. NIB Bank Limited emerged volume leader with 3.77 million shares, up Re 0.02 to close at Rs 2.19. Bank Al-Falah stood second, up Re 0.08 to close at Rs 28.12 on 2.6 million shares. Nishat Power surged by Rs 1.56 to close at Rs 37.41 on 2.5 million shares.
P.T.C.L posted a negative trend, down Re 0.02 to close at Rs 26.03 on 2.18 million shares. Sui South Gas with 2.17 million shares, closed at Rs 34.87, down Re 0.09. K-Electric lost Re 0.11 to close at Rs 7.89 on 2.11 million shares. Adam Ins. climbed by Re 0.46 to close at Rs 46.93 on 1.81 million shares. Sui North Gas gained Re 0.3 to close at Rs 22.58 on 1.81 million shares. With a trading volume of 1.68 million shares, Engro Food Ltd closed at Rs 104.24, up Rs 1.34. Lotte Chemical recorded a negative trend, down Re 0.12 to close at Rs 7.24 on 1.68 million shares.
Shezan Inter and Pak Tobacco were the top gainers with Rs 43.18 and Rs 21.00 to close at Rs 1,083.18 and Rs 1,200.00, respectively. Wyeth Pak Ltd and Nestle Pak were the worst losers with Rs 222.50 and Rs 99.00 to close at Rs 4,227.50 and Rs 7,951.00, respectively.
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