Karachi: The KSE-100 index slipped by 138.58 points, or 0.43 per cent, on Tuesday to close at 32,109.87.
Investors’ interest in stocks remained low represented by the plunge in volume to 218m shares of the trading value at Rs10.1 billion down from 264m shares of Rs14.3bn on Monday.
Foreign selling continued unabated with net outflow of $1.5m on Tuesday. Major activity was seen in the textile sector where foreigners bought shares worth $3.3m and sold shares worth $3.8m. Overseas investors have sold equities worth $139.9m year-to-date.
Among local participants, mutual funds continued to build fresh positions with net purchases of $1.22m. The leveraged small investors were still licking the wounds of the Feb-Mar stocks meltdown.
Institutions decided to wait and watch the evolving situation in the Yemen conflict and the local politics as the leader of MQM was to appear in a London court on Tuesday.
Among significant news flow was Pakistan and IMF start of discussions on seventh review under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) from the first week of May 2015.
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Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp commented that the prime minister’s policy statement on compliance with parliament decision on Yemen crisis and affirming strategic partnership with the Saudi government supported the sentiments in the volatile trading session. “Late session profit-taking ahead of outcome for bail renewal request of key political leader case in London played a catalyst role in bearish activity at the KSE.”
Analyst Arhum Ghous at JS Capital observed that close to the end of session, the market witnessed panic-selling as the index tumbled by 0.43pc. Cement sector saw profit-taking as MLCF declined and DGKC, FCCL, KOHC, LUCK and PIOC followed suit.
A largely volatile oil and gas sector also saw price erosion with PSO, OGDCL, PPL and Shell ending 0.4pc, 0.1pc, 0.2pc and 1.8pc lower. Brokerage Sunrise Capital stated that overall market remained cautious and struggled to find clear direction. Most sectors witnessed bearish and mixed activity.
