Index down 205 points on heavy selling in favourites
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, April 24: Stocks on Monday fell on a wide front on selling associated with the rollover week amid fears of clearing problems on the part of those who may be holding long positions beyond their financial limits. The KSE 100-share was off 205 points or 1.77 per cent at 11,802.68 points, eroding Rs59.499bn from the market capital at Rs3,326.124bn.
But leading analysts claim the squaring of positions in the April settlement, which commenced on Monday, are expected to be fairly smooth and rumours about the possibility of some clearing problems may not be relevant to the ground realities.
Some others said it was hasty unloading by some of the foreign investors in the oil trio, which seems to have interrupted the market’s upward drive and dragged it along with them.
The KSE 100-share finished with an extended sharp decline of 205 points amid heavy selling in the current favourites, notably oil, bank and cement shares but there was no matching buying offers at the dips.
The opening was, however, on the higher side as it rose by 46 points, but thereafter it encountered alternate bouts of buying and selling and finally ended with a fresh sharp fall of 204.92 points or 1.71 per cent at 11,802.68 as compared to the previous 12,007.60 points, reflecting the weakness of leading oil shares, notably OGDC, Pakistan Petroleum and MCB.
Pakistan Petroleum and Pakistan Oilfields fell by Rs6.80 and Rs3.50, respectively, but well above the day’s lowest on late buying at the dips and so did some leading banks shares notably Askari and Union Bank.
“The breach of psychological barrier of 12,000 is significant in more than one ways,” says a leading analyst. “It could open the flood gate of panic selling and attract massive covering purchases at the lows simultaneously.”
Terribly low volume of about 200m shares reflects that some of the punters and speculators targeted leading index shares to create panic among the weak-holders and then lift the floating stock on selected counters at the attractively lower levels.
But some others said worries associated with the rollover week for the matured April settlements, which started from Monday (April 24), were there but the squaring of positions was expected to be smooth despite negative rumours.
“What was more important was the absence of buyers even at falling prices,” they said. “Leading investors, including financial institutions, watched the drama sitting on the sidelines.”
There was, however, nothing fundamentally wrong with the corporate background news as interim working results, including dividend, are pouring in each session and could lure investors back anytime during the current week, they added.
Minus signs again dominated the list, although some of the leading shares, notably Pakistan Services and Rafhan Maize managed to finish higher by Rs14.40 to Rs36.90. Other good gainers included JSB Pumps, Honda Atlas, Clover Pakistan, and Al-Ghazi Tractors, up Rs4 to Rs9.40.
Leading losers included Unilever Pakistan and Wyeth Pakistan, off Rs35 and Rs80, respectively, followed by United Bank, IGI Insurance, National Refinery, PSO, Shell Pakistan, Dawood Hercules, Sanofi-Aventis and Treet Corporation, which suffered fall ranging from Rs8.10 to Rs15.
Traded volume fell to 196m shares from the previous 269m shares as losers maintained a strong lead over gainers at 262 to 85, with 33 shares holding on to the last levels.
OGDC again led the list of actives, lower Rs1.15 at Rs161.40 on 32m shares, followed by Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, off Rs1.95 at Rs37.95 on 22m shares, Bosicor Pakistan, up Rs1.10 at Rs32.35 on 12m shares, Lucky Cement, sharply lower by Rs4.30 at Rs117.45 on 10m shares, Adamjee Insurance, higher by Rs1.15 at Rs184.25 on the strength of higher interim profit, and MCB, off Rs5 at Rs247.50 on 6m shares.
Other actives were led by Pakistan Petroleum, off Rs6.80 on 8m shares, Pakistan Oilfields, lower Rs4.50 on 7m shares, Fauji Cement, lower Rs1.15 on 9m shares, and DG Khan Cement, easy Rs1.70 on 6m shares.
DEFAULTER COS: Easier conditions also prevailed on this counter as prices suffered fractional decline on stray selling. Crescent-Standard Bank also came in for modest selling and fell by 85 paisa at Rs6.35 on 0.184m shares, while Quice Food rose by 10 paisa at Rs4.20 on 0.163m shares. Others were modestly traded.
DIVIDEND: PICIC Investment Fund, third interim cash 15 per cent; PICIC Growth Fund, cash 20 per cent; Haroon Oils, 400 per cent on non-cumulative convertible preference shares; Jahangir Siddiqui Investment Bank, 33 per cent, 16 per cent interim already paid.
BOARD METTINGS: Unilever Pakistan, Engro Chemical, KESC, Fauji Fertiliser, Askari Bank on April 25; Pak Telecom, Glaxo-SKF, Pak-Suzuki Motors, Al-Abbas Cement, Meezan Bann, Bank Al-Habib, Allied Bank, Hub-Power, Ibrahim Fibre, Tri-Pack Films and Nishat Mills on
