Index sheds 79 points

The Karachi share market witnessed a dull session on Tuesday due to law and order situation in the city. The KSE-100 index failed to sustain 12,000 points level and closed at 11,956.89 points, down by 79.00 points from 12,035.89 points.
Trading also remained low due to lack of investors'' interest and the volume at ready counter declined to 50.670 million shares as compared to 76.128 million shares traded on Monday. Market capitalisation declined by Rs 21 billion to Rs 3.178 trillion.
Of 357 active scrips, 188 closed in negative and 75 in positive, while the values of 94 stocks remained unchanged. Lotte Pakistan PTA was the volume leader with 9.591 million shares. However, it lost Re 0.18 to close at Rs 15.96. Fatima Fertiliser and Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim gained Re 0.18 and Re 0.17 to close at Rs 12.83 and Rs 41.95 with 3.991 million shares and 1.736 million shares respectively, while Fauji Fertiliser Co (FFC) lost Re 0.40 to close at Rs 139.62 with 1.176 million shares.
SilkBank, NBP and NIB Bank declined by Re 0.14, Re 0.85 and Re 0.06 to close at Rs 2.50, Rs 51.11 and Rs 1.82 with 2.772 million shares, 1.676 million shares and 1.145 million shares respectively. OGDC lost Rs 1.39 to close at Rs 147.29 with 1.197 million shares. Azgard Nine decreased by Re 0.10 to close at Rs 4.99 with 1.176 million shares. Lucky Cement declined by Rs 2.11 to close at Rs 70.33 with 1.058 million shares.
Colgate Palmolive and Unilever Foods were the highest gainers increasing by Rs 31.04 and Rs 30.63 to close at Rs 730.85 and Rs 1390.00 respectively, while Bata Pak and Salfi Textile were the worst losers declining by Rs 16.26 and Rs 3.13 to close at Rs 444.24 and Rs 60.99 respectively.
Hasnain Asghar Ali at Aziz Fidahusein Co said that the equity market stayed in tight grip of bears, with low volume price erosion being a regular event. Leading the meltdown were the high priced stocks, while various large cap stocks followed suit, forcing the to undergo triple digit loss. By midday, support by index heavyweight OGDC, along with accumulation in various dividend yielders, did restrict the losses for the day.
Tension in the city and various threats that may come as a repercussion of OBL operation added to the nervousness linked to upcoming budget left the handful market participants with no option, but to re-adjust themselves for a tougher investment environment ahead.