Share market ends down by 539 points on border, political conflicts

Share market ends down by 539 points on border, political conflicts

KARACHI: The share market witnessed another decline of 539 points on Thursday amid escalating conflict between Pakistan and India and arrest of PML-N leader by National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 29,738 points as against 30,277 points showing a decline of 539 points.

Analysts at Topline Securities attributed the decline to the latest development amid escalating conflict between Indo-Pak, Pakistan has suspended all bilateral trade with India and has also resolved to downgrade its diplomatic relations with the neighboring country.

Furthermore Political noise remained high after the arrest of PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in an alleged corruption scandal.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that as soon as the market opened, the Index went straight to the negative territory, diminishing the hopes of a technical pull back anticipated by Technical chartists.

Confrontation at the border took the center stage not only in the Parliament but also at the bourse, denting investor sentiment.

Persistent across the board selling from mutual funds has been a major problem for local investors, which have seen foreigners selling since past three years and now from local Funds.

E&P, Autos, Banks and Cement Sectors again caused the onslaught and remained on the negative side. Cement sector led the volumes table with 15.2 million shares, followed by Power (14 million) and Banks (13.5 million). KEL remained on top with 10.3 million shares, followed by UNITY (7.8 million) and MLCF (6.7 million).

Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (-213 points), E&P (-150 points), Power (-62 points), Cement (-34 points), Fertilizer (-28 points), and Food (+17 points).
Volumes increased significantly from 65.3 million shares to 108.7 million shares (+66 percent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 58 percent to reach US$ 27.4 million as against US$ 17.4 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include KEL, UNITY, MLCF, LOTCHEM and ISL, which formed 31 percent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed positively include EFERT (+24 points), NESTLE (+14 points), PSO (+6 points), SHFA (+5 points) and KTML (+4 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include HBL (-55 points), POL (-54 points), OGDC (-53 points), MCB (-51 points) and HUBC (-43 points).

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