Karachi Stock Exchange on the first trading day of the week ended lower owing to profit-taking in select stocks on political uncertainty. The benchmark KSE-100 index lost 182 points to close at 23,315.15 points down from previous 23,497.07 points. "Profit-taking in select scrips - cement and banking stocks caused index to fall by 0.8 percent on Monday," said Samar Iqbal Senior Manager Equity Sales at Topline.
She said some reports that International Monetary Fund (IMF) may insist government for some increase in key interest rate also affected investors' sentiments. FFC announced better than expected dividend. Fauji Cement and Maple Leaf Cement were volume leaders, however these scrips remained under pressure after rallying in last few days, she added.
During the trading, KSE-100 index also hit intraday high of 23,577.03 points and low of 23,289.99 points. Despite negative trend, trading activity was on higher side and the volume at ready counter mounted to 249 million shares followed by selling pressure as compared to 241 million shares traded a day earlier. Out of 367 active scrips, 142 scrips went up, 201 went down while 24 scrips remained unchanged. Market capitalisation declined by Rs 39.4 billion to Rs 5.703 trillion from Rs 5.742 trillion.
Out of Top Ten scrips on the volume leaders' list, some 8 scrips closed in negative territory and that of two in positive. Fauji Cement was the volume leader with 52.82 million shares. It lost Re 0.36 to close at Rs 16.83 per share. B.O. Punjab fell by Re 0.38 to close at Rs 13.39 on 22 million shares. Lafarge Pak closed at Rs 10.74, down by Re 0.23 on 15.5 million shares. Maple Leaf Cement also lost Rs 1.50 to Rs 31.01 on a volume of 12.12 million shares.
Share price of P.T.C.L.A declined by Re 0.88 to close at Rs 27.25 on 10.12 million shares. National Bank on 9.6 million shares lost Re 2.51 to close at Rs 55.21. Sui South Gas closed at Rs 23.89, up by Re. 0.98 on 6.9 million shares. With 6 million shares trading, D.G. Khan Cement shed Rs 3.17 to Rs 91.69 per share. P.S.O closed at Rs 363.76, up by Rs 9.43 on 5.9 million shares; and P.I.A.C (A) lost Re 0.42 to Rs 8.06 on 5.1 million shares. Siemens Pakistan and Island Textile were the top gainers with share prices increasing by Rs 41.09 and Rs 29.60 to close at Rs 862.99 and Rs 670.00, respectively. Rafhan Maize and Nestle Pak were the top losers declining by Rs 270.00 and Rs 100.00 to close at Rs 5,170.00 and Rs 6,200.00, respectively.
Commenting on the market situation, Ahsan Mehanti an analyst at Arif Habib said profit-taking was witnessed in select stocks across the board on political uncertainty ahead of Presidential Election due on July 30 on controversial political and judicial moves. He said falling global commodities and stocks also impacted the sentiment. "Rupee sliding against US dollar and limited foreign interest played a catalyst role in bearish activity at KSE despite support in oil, cement and textile stocks on expectation of strong earning announcements next week," he added.