Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) on Thursday witnessed a technical correction due to profit-taking by institutions. The KSE-100 Index shed 51.81 points to close at 25,472.65-point level. The index touched 25,709 highest and 25,399 lowest levels during the intraday trading. The volume could not maintain higher level and stood at 255.158 million shares from 274.146 million shares.
The market capitalisation also closed lower at Rs 6.104 trillion against Rs 6.118 trillion. Commenting on the market performance, analysts said the local bourse started off in a positive mood, later it slipped into negative zone due to some institutional profit-taking. The 100-index lost 52 points to close at 25,472 with volumes stagnant at Rs 11.2bn.
They said profit-taking was seen in main board items such as NBP, HUBC, ENGRO, DGKC, PSO, etc. On the other hand, some fresh interest was seen in NML which rose 2 percent during the day. FCCL, NML and NBP topped the volume charts with trade of 18.6mn, 14.3mn and 13.1mn shares, respectively, they added. They said speculations continued in stocks across the board as investors are awaiting update on release of Coalition Support Fund and controversial $800m Etisalat overdues.
Analysts said institutional support was witnessed in select stocks in fertiliser sector on expected availability of concessionary gas, cement sector on rising local prices and textile sector on expected export growth after GSP Plus status. Out of total 403 active stocks, 179 went up, 207 went down and that of 17 remained unchanged.
Two top achievers for the day were Rafhan Maize, which shot up by Rs 200 to Rs 7900 and Island Textile, which climbed by Rs 57.59 to Rs 1209.41. The top losers were Unilever Foods, which shed Rs 370 to Rs 10000 and Nestle Pak, which lost Rs 300 to Rs 8100.
Of the Top 10 volume leaders, Fauji Cement led the tally with 18m shares, up by 10 paisa to close at Rs 14.75; Nishat Mills gained 61 paisa to close at Rs 123.20 on 14m shares; and National Bank rose by 50 paisa to close at Rs 59.95 on 13m shares.
Maple Leaf Cement gained six paisa to close at Rs 26.85 on 11m shares; Bank of Punjab lost two paisa to close at Rs 10.97 on 8m shares; and Jahangir Siddiqui Company moved up by 10 paisa to Rs 9.56 on 7m shares. Hub Power Company witnessed an improvement of seven paisa to close at Rs 62.10 on 7m shares; NIB Bank managed to stay in green zone gaining four paisa to close at Rs 2.51 on 6m shares; Bank Al-Falah bagged 17 paisa to close at Rs 27.50 on 5m shares; and Fauji Fert Bin XD closed at Rs 45.20 with a gain of 20 paisa on 5m shares.
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