Bearish trend was witnessed at Karachi share market on Monday due to profit taking, mainly by institutions. As a result, the KSE-100 index declined by 61.32 points to close at 12,370.59 points.
Trading remained very low and the volume at ready counter declined to 109.265 million shares as compared to 202.586 million shares traded on last trading session.
Market capitalisation declined by Rs 16 billion to Rs 3.347 trillion.
Of 396 active scrips, 235 closed in negative and 146 in positive, while the values of 15 scrips remained unchanged.
Azgard Nine was the volume leader with 21.245 million shares and gained Re 0.12 to close at Rs 11.99. Lotte Pakistan PTA increased by Re 0.34 to close at Rs 15.05 with 14.042 million shares.
Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim lost Re 0.41 to close at Rs 41.86 with 10.692 million shares. Jahangir Siddiqui Co decreased by Re 0.15 to close at Rs 12.07 with 7.056 million shares. Arif Habib Corp declined by Re 0.14 to close at Rs 26.88 with 3.992 million shares. Dewan Salman lost Re 0.08 to close at Rs 3.02 with 3.245 million shares.
Fauji Fertilizer Co gained Re 0.44 to close at Rs 153.07 with 3.151 million shares. DG Khan Cement declined by Re 0.59 to close at Rs 29.22 with 2.633 million shares. Pak Reinsurance inched up by Re 0.16 to close at Rs 18.51 with 2.451 million shares. Nishat Mills declined by Rs 1.13 to close at Rs 65.93 with 2.242 million shares.
Unilever Foods and Nestle Pakistan were the highest gainers increasing by Rs 40.09 and Rs 38.84 to close at Rs 1155.09 and Rs 2898.56 respectively, while Siemens Pak and Atlas Honda were the worst losers declining by Rs 24.80 and Rs 6.56 to close at Rs 1200.80 and Rs 125.41 respectively.
Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Investments said that bearish activity was witnessed at the bourse due to profit taking, mainly by institutions. On the other hand, limited interest of foreign investors was seen.
He said that fall in international oil prices near to $89 and uncertainty over SBP monetary policy announcements this week affected the market sentiment throughout the trading session despite record earning announcements in banking and oil sector scrips.