BRIndex100 extends losses

Pakistan Stock Exchange ended on negative note on the last trading day of the week Friday due to selling, mainly by local investors in various stocks. BRIndex100 lost another 10.42 points or 0.23 percent to close at 4,617.75 points. BRIndex100 touched intraday high of 4,643.11 and intraday low of 4,598.26 points. Volumes stood at 110.166 million shares.
BRIndex30 decreased by 81.47 points or 0.34 percent to close at 23,834.63 points with a turnover of 90.001 million shares. The benchmark KSE-100 index declined by 61.47 points to 43,011.27 points. Trading activity remained low as daily volumes decreased to 139.896 million shares as compared to 163.265 million shares traded Thursday.
Foreign investors however remained net buyers of shares worth $1.8 million. The market capitalization declined by Rs 4 billion to Rs 8.989 trillion. Out of total 360 active scrips, 241 closed in negative, only 92 in positive while the value of 27 stocks remained unchanged.
Azgard Nine was the volume leader with 23.333 million shares. However, it lost Re 1.00 to close at Rs 14.96 followed by Pak Elektron that declined by Rs 1.39 to close at Rs 43.82 with 17.680 million shares.
Colgate Palmolive and Nestle Pakistan were the top gainers with Rs 145.00 and Rs 76.78, respectively to close at Rs 3,045.00 and Rs 12,299.00. Sanofi-Aventis and Service Industries were the top losers with Rs 47.73 and Rs 38.60, respectively to close at Rs 1,355.66 and Rs 733.40.
BR Commercial Banks Index lost 21.86 points or 0.25 percent to close at 8,664.19 points with total turnover of 11.827 million shares.
BR Cement Index decreased by 51.29 points or 0.88 percent to close at 5,810.25 points with 8.836 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index gained 12.35 points or 0.24 percent to close at 5,106.19 points with 3.917 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 1,177.72 points, down 25.12 points or 2.09 percent with 10.940 million shares.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index increased by 23.21 points or 0.37 percent to close at 6,340.55 points with 1.960 million shares.
An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said trading started on a positive note but at a slow pace. News of US imposing tariffs on import of steel dampened the mood in steel sector scrips and the same negativity carried through in blue chip scrips, including banks, cement and fertilizer. Professional money managers maintain a bearish sentiment with negative outlook in the remainder of March.
Most of the positive news appearing in press since last week have lived short and got discounted. PAEL saw significant volumes at rates close to lower circuit. Institutional selling is believed to have caused the trades on the expectation of poor results in third quarter of FY18. ANL also traded in high volume at lower circuit, which is believed to have caused by NAB investigation.
The Index closed at 43,011 points, down, showing a decline of 61 points. Sectors contributing to this performance include OGMCs, (down 36 points), Commercial Banks (down 30 points) and Technology (down 15 points).
Scripts that contributed positively include PPL (up 30 points), OGDC (up 21 points), POL (up 21 points), HBL (up 18 points) and COLG (up 14 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include MCB (down 28 points), DGKC (down 19 points), PSO (down 15 points), TRG (down 12 points) and DAWH (down 12 points).