Stocks extend losses on law and order

KARACHI, April 30: Stocks were down one per cent on Thursday, as investors sentiments were further dampened by widespread incidents of violence in the city on Wednesday. That added fuel to the already burning concerns over the law and order situation in a part of the mountainous terrain of the country.


With three days of holiday ahead, most investors thought discretion to be better part of valour and off-load stocks at available prices.The KSE 100-share index settled at 7,202 points at the close on Thursday, with a loss of 69 points during the day’s trading. Volume of trade stood at 148 million shares, valued at Rs6.7 billion. Business was substantially down from 182 million shares that changed hands a day earlier. In the final analysis, 225 stocks that lost value far outnumbered 84 gainers. The KSE 30-share index suffered a fall of 98 points to close at 7,683 points.“Absence of ready board leverage have left the participants with no option but to sell/buy at available rates, the increase in difference between the ultimate buyer and seller leads to extreme movement and rate erosion,” says Hasnain Asghar Ali at brokerage firm, Aziz Fidahusein & Co.Some of the stocks moved in the following pattern: NBP was up 47 paisa to close at Rs75.55; FFBL rose 19 paisa to Rs18.33; PPTA gained 8 paisa and closed at Rs3.12. On the losing side, Bank Alfalah lost 99 paisa to close at Rs12.28; OGDC closed unchanged at Rs73.79; PTC slipped by 83 paisa to Rs17.51 and MCB Bank shed Rs1.11 to close at Rs161.78.Bilal Qamar at JS Global observed that during the week ended on Thursday, average daily volumes dropped to seven-week low of 162 million shares. Concerns regarding introduction of new taxes such as those on capital gains in the next budget kept investors biting their nails.In a jittery market, investors discounted some of the good corporate results, such as those from Engro, Hubco and NBP.Sara Shahid at Elixir Securities observed that with corporate result season drawing to a close, the market would be devoid of triggers, in the short-term. The upcoming visit of President Zardari to the US, its impact and possible aid/funding would be critical. Moreover, a swift and decisive end to the unrest in disturbed parts of the country, would instill some confidence back into the market Amongst the heavy-weight sectors, cement, fertilizer, commercial banks and oil and gas exploration fell by 9.2 per cent, 7.4 per cent, 5.8 per cent and 3.5 per cent, respectively during the week ended on Thursday. As a result, the total market capitalisation of the bourse declined by 5.6 per cent week-on-week to stand at $26.7 billion. According to the latest NCCPL data, offshore investors remained net sellers of $1 million over the week. Gross buying by foreign investors stood at $10.1 million while selling was recorded at $11 million. On year to date basis, cumulative selling amounted to $251 million to end of April.