KARACHI: Stocks came in for heavy battering on Thursday as the KSE-100 index plunged by 625.40 points, or 1.34 per cent, to close at 46,142.74.

The market opened slightly in the positive by 49 points, but the index soon succumbed to selling pressure. Throughout the day, profit-booking continued which pulled the index to intraday low by 648 points. The National Clearing Com­pany of Pakistan numbers showing activity by various participants revealed that mutual funds were the major spoilers of the market as they liquidated positions in the huge sum of $5.03m.

An asset manager of one of the top mutual funds confided that a couple of big funds may have decided to book profit at the current high levels and re-enter at around 45,000. “There have been no major redemptions today, to my knowledge,” he affirmed.

Investors were concerned over the IMF demand to abolish Rs200bn corporate income tax (CIT) exemptions and draw up a new circular debt plan. Similarly, Pakistan’s import bill and domestic debt seemed to fatten.

The upcoming rollover week also pushed leveraged players to square positions while the prudent remained cautious ahead of the FATF review just around the corner. But the hardest blow to investor confidence came from lower-than-expected dividends from major blue chips PSO, ENGRO, MEBL that disclosed the results on Thursday failed to excite investors.

Profit-booking was observed in banks which wiped off 247 points from the index, followed by cement sector down 83 points fertilisers 74 points, E&P 68 points and O&GMCs 55 points.

The scrips that were the biggest drag on the index included HBL (91 points), Engro (58 points), PSO (52 points), Lucky Cement (43 points) and MCB Bank (41 points).

The traded volume decreased 18pc over the previous day to 578m shares and the value also declined 19pc to Rs23.2bn. Stocks that accounted for about 30pc of the turnover included DSL, TELE, KEL, WTL and ANI.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2021

Opinion

Editorial

Smog hazard
Updated 05 Nov, 2024

Smog hazard

The catastrophe unfolding in Lahore is a product of authorities’ repeated failure to recognise environmental impact of rapid urbanisation.
Monetary policy
05 Nov, 2024

Monetary policy

IN an aggressive move, the State Bank on Monday reduced its key policy rate by a hefty 250bps to 15pc. This is the...
Cultural power
05 Nov, 2024

Cultural power

AS vital modes of communication, art and culture have the power to overcome social and international barriers....
Disregarding CCI
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Disregarding CCI

The failure to regularly convene CCI meetings means that the process of democratic decision-making is falling apart.
Defeating TB
04 Nov, 2024

Defeating TB

CONSIDERING the fact that Pakistan has the fifth highest burden of tuberculosis in the world as per the World Health...
Ceasefire charade
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Ceasefire charade

The US talks of peace, while simultaneously arming and funding their Israeli allies, are doomed to fail, and are little more than a charade.