KARACHI: The equity market ended down on Friday despite positive reports of investments deals on visit of Saudi Crown Prince.
The benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 40,486 points as against 40,507 points showing a decline of 20 points (-0.1 percent DoD).
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that despite positive news flow from macro perspective such as visit of Saudi Crown Prince over the weekend and signing investment pacts, the market took toll of the potential negative impact of the bomb explosion in Kashmir that dented the investor sentiment.
Buying interest remained scant as such. Major volumes were mainly registered in Banks (16M), followed by Chemical (15M) and Cement (8M).
LOTCHEM became the volume leader consecutively however, the stock price came down. Cement sector rebounded to some extent on the back of decline in coal price overnight.
Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (+58 points), E&P (+14 points), O&GMCs (-27 points), Fertilizer (-21 points), Power (-17 points).
Volumes declined from 124 million shares to 93 million shares (-25 percent DoD). Average traded value also declined by 25 percent to reach $34 million as against $45 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include LOTCHEM, BOP,SNBL, STPL and PREMA, which formed 32 percent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively include UBL (+34 points), BAFL (+14 points), PPL (+12 points), EFERT (+9 points), and NBP (+8 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include HUBC (-22 points), PSO (-21 points), FFC (-18 points), DAWH (-17 points) and HMB (-9 points).
