Equities tumble in cautious trade

Equities at Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) tumbled amid cautious trade, weighed mainly by political uncertainty. The benchmark KSE 100-index shed 177.88 points or 0.56 percent to close at 31,316.96 points Monday. According to analysts, stocks closed lower on cautious activity ahead of November 30 protest rally called by Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf.
They said political uncertainty, limited foreign interest, uncertainty in global stocks and commodities, concerns for rising circular debt in energy sector and dismal data on current account deficit rising to $1.76 billion for Jul-Oct''14 played a catalytic role in the bearish activity at KSE. During intraday trading, the KSE-100 index remained sporadic, touching highest level of 31,614.70 points, and fell to 31303.04 points lowest level.
The KSE-100 index settled at 31,316.96 points, down by 0.56 percent or 177.88 points as compared to 31,494.84 points Friday. Among top 10 volume leaders, seven companies recorded a positive trend. Trading took place in 371 scrips, of which 123 closed in positive, 228 with minus signs while 20 scrips remained unchanged. P.I.A.C (A) emerged the volume leader with 29.20 million shares, up Re. 0.50 to close at Rs 7.11. Jah.Sidd.Co stood second, up Re. 0.25 to close at Rs 16.09 on 24.88 million shares. Sui South Gas closed at Rs 35.09, up Rs 1.36 on 10.07 million shares.
Maple Leaf Cement lost Re. 0.96 to close at Rs 33.07 on 9.50 million shares. Sui North Gas rose by Rs 1.12 to close at Rs 23.61 with 8.81 million shares. Pak Int. Bulk moved up by Re. 0.53 to close at Rs 25.92 on 7.44 million shares. Engro Fertilize closed at Rs 62.08, down Rs 2.86 on 7.26 million shares.
Engro Foods Ltd inched up by Re. 0.59 to close at Rs 98.53 on 5.82 million shares. B.O.Punjab closed at Rs 8.05, down Re. 0.23 on 4.66 million shares. Summit Bank rose by Re. 0.05 to close at Rs 3.20 on 4.48 million shares. Nestle Pak. XD and Bata (Pak) XD were the top gainers with Rs 175 and Rs 75.01 to close at Rs 8,775 and Rs 3,200, respectively. Rafhan Maize and Exide (Pak) were the worst losers with Rs 500 and Rs 95.28 to close at Rs 10,400 and Rs 1,935.71, respectively.