Index sheds 84.34 points

The KSE-100 index on Thursday lost 84.34 points and closed at the level of 11,848.84 points with low volumes. The market opened on positive note and the index hit 11,952.72 points intra-day high level, up 19.34 points. However, later the investors opted for profit taking at these levels that forced the index into negative at 11,843.18 points intra-day low level.
Trading activity remained low as the volumes at ready counter declined to 75.091 million shares as compared to 88.303 million shares traded on Wednesday. The overall market capitalisation declined by Rs 21 billion to stand at Rs 3.158 trillion. Out of the total 367 active scrips, 162 closed in negative, 121 in positive while the value of 84 scrips remained unchanged. Pak Reinsurance was the volume leader with 6.632 million shares gaining Re 0.37 to close at Rs 20.20. PIAC (A) inched up by Re 0.02 to close at Rs 2.70 with 5.732 million shares.
Investors interest was seen in the cement sector, as Lucky Cement and DG Khan Cement increased by Rs 1.47 and Re 0.73 to close at Rs 70.14 and Rs 26.12 with 4.558 million shares and 3.137 million shares, respectively. Bank Al Falah gained Re 0.22 to close at Rs 10.97 with 4.077 million shares.
Lotte Pakistan PTA lost Re 0.12 to close at Rs 15.74 with 3.518 million shares. Golden Arrow inched up by Re 0.06 to close at Rs 3.60 with 3.028 million shares. Pace (Pak) Limited decreased by Re 0.15 to close at Rs 3.57 with 2.717 million shares. Tariq Glass (R) gained Re 0.89 to close at Rs 1.56 with 2.633 million shares. Attock Refinery surged by Rs 1.63 to close at Rs 126.90 with 2.352 million shares.
National Refinery and National Foods were the top gainers increasing by Rs 5.99 and Rs 2.99 to close at Rs 324.69 and Rs 62.84, respectively while Unilever Pak and Unilever Foods were the worst losers declining by Rs 275.98 and Rs 31.03 to close at Rs 5427.05 and Rs 1307.27, respectively.
Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Investments said the bearish activity was witnessed at the local bourse with thin trade on investors'' concerns over Asian Development Bank report, weak economic indicators on rising inflation and fiscal deficit in the country. The concerns for Pak-Us bilateral ties after a controversial US report affected the sentiment. The rising local cement prices and higher global commodity prices kept investor interest in blue chip scrips ahead of quarter end earning announcements, he added.