Index down 27.06 points

Trading on Karachi share market declined drastically on the first day of Ramazan and the daily volumes at ready counter declined to 13-month low level of 14.941 million shares. The KSE-100 index lost 27.06 points and closed at 12,226.33 points as the investors opted for profit taking on available margins.
After opening in positive, the index remained oscillating between 12,279.75 points intra-day high and 12,194.95 points intra-day low levels. Market capitalisation declined by Rs 6 billion to Rs 3.230 trillion. Of 290 active scrips, 117 closed in negative and 71 in positive, while the values of 102 stocks remained unchanged.
Engro Corp was the volume leader with 1.273 million shares and gained Re 0.03 to close at Rs 141.78. Fauji Fertilizer inched up by Re 0.53 to close at Rs 162.85 with 0.816 million shares, while Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim lost Re 0.18 to close at Rs 46.81 with 0.658 million shares.
Jahangir Siddiqui Co decreased by Re 0.05 to close at Rs 6.73 with 1.028 million shares. Kot Addu Power lost Re 0.07 to close at Rs 42.89 with 0.953 million shares. Azgard Nine declined by Re 0.08 to close at Rs 5.97 with 0.744 million shares. Lotte Pakistan PTA closed at Rs 12.11, down Re 0.20 with 0.561 million shares. D G Khan Cement decreased by Re 0.37 to close at Rs 22.51 with 0.550 million shares. Nishat Mills closed at the previous day''s closing level of Rs 46.35 with 0.516 million shares. MCB Bank increased by Rs 2.32 to close at Rs 187.36 with 0.495 million shares.
Unilever Pak and Exide (Pak) were highest gainers, increasing by Rs 67.13 and Rs 9.45 to close at Rs 5996.83 and Rs 198.51 respectively, while Shell Pakistan and PSO were worst losers, declining by Rs 4.51 and Rs 4.43 to close at Rs 215.47 and Rs 241.31 respectively. Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Investments said that bearish activity was witnessed in the earning announcement session with record low volumes at the local bourse.
He said that limited investors'' interest on account of bank holiday and first day of Ramazan affected market activity. "Fall in global stocks on weak US manufacturing data and global economic growth uncertainty, limited institutional and foreign interest affected the investor sentiment at KSE", he added.