KARACHI: The benchmark KSE-100 index declined by 33.23 points to 41,030.77 points. Trading activity on the ready counter remained low as daily volumes decreased to 75.430 million shares as compared to 115.492 million shares traded Friday.
The market capitalization decreased by Rs 44 billion to Rs 8.432 trillion. Out of total 343 active scrips, 233 closed in negative, only 95 in positive while the value of 15 stocks remained unchanged.
PTCL was the volume leader with 5.576 million shares. However, it lost Re 0.23 to close at Rs 13.02 followed by K-Electric that lost Rs 0.15 to close at Rs 5.47 with 4.753 million shares.
Khyber Tobacco and Hinopak Motor were the top gainers with Rs 56.65 and Rs 36.16, respectively to close at Rs 1,449.47 and Rs 1,016.16. Nestle Pakistan and Pak Tobacco were the top losers with Rs 429.50 and Rs 70.35, respectively to close at Rs 11,400.00 and Rs 1,336.72.
BR Commercial Banks Index closed at 7,810.71 points, down 2.84 points or 0.04 percent with total turnover of 4.948 million shares.
BR Cement Index lost 8.73 percent or 0.17 percent to close at 5,158.74 points with 3.971 million shares. BR Oil and Gas Index gained 49.42 points or 0.95 percent to close at 5,243.57 points with 13.170 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index lost 21.19 points or 1.91 percent to close at 1,125.19 points with 12.758 million shares.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index decreased by 48.66 points or 0.76 percent to close at 6,324.73 points with 10.961 million shares.
An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the KSE-100 index had a topsy-turvy day, with the benchmark sliding in and out of green and red all day long. He said international price of crude oil gave some confidence to the investors, which resulted in healthy trades in OGDC and PPL. Oil & Gas Sector consecutively saw healthy volumes from last trading sessions, but other sectors saw lackluster trading activity. Stocks which dominated the market in terms of volumes include PTC, KEL, SSGC, TRG and PAEL contributed 31 percent to total volumes. On a scrip wise basis, market momentum was led by OGDC (up 48 points), PPL (up 27 points), MCB (up 16 points), POL (up 14 points) and DAWH (up 24 points). On the other side, stocks that remained in red include HBL (down 44 points), NESTLE (down 20 points), PAKT (down 18 points), PSO (down 16 points) and UBL (down 13 points).
