Stock market dips over selling pressures

KARACHI: The upward trajectory on the stock market slowed down on Thursday over selling pressures as investors sought to book profits.

The benchmark KSE 100 index witnessed a decline of 75.69 points (0.19%) to close at 40,455.44 points. The stock market reached the level at 47,787.09 but eventually reduced before trading was suspended. The total volume of shares was 139.375 million valued at Rs5.908 billion.

Meanwhile, the lower KSE 30 index declined by 39.58 points (-0.21%) to close at 18,653.35 points. The total volume of shares was 71.789 million. The top active stocks were Unity (5.81%), DGKC (4.52%), ASCR (4.05%), Fauji Foods (2.59%), and PIBTL (1.37%). There was decline in share prices of BOP (-0.91%), MLCF (-0.90%), Hascol (-1.96%), AVAN (-5.61%), and NCL (-5.565).

Muhammad Imran Alvi, Senior Equity Sales Officer at M.M. Securities, said the decline today was due to the increased selling in the cement and oil sector and the market behaved as a result.

The shares prices of cement companies declined with the exception of DGKC (3.01), while MLCF (-0.21), Cherat Cement (-0.13), Dandot(-0.78), Fauji Cement (-0.05), Lucky Cement (-7.47) saw a decline in share prices. The oil exploration and oil and gas marketing sector end the day in the red. The shares of Mari Petroleum (-18.57), OGDC (-0.58%), POL (-3.28), and PPL (1.47) declined.

Imran Alvi said the banking sector remained positive and the earning held the stock upwards. Askari Bank (0.23), Bank Alfalah (0.23), Faysal Bank (-1.23), Soneri Bank (0.45), Habib Bank (1.77) and UBL (0.61) were notable examples.

On the political front, the visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Pakistan raised optimism as it would strengthen bilateral relations. Imran Alvi said that how the visit will affect the stock market will only be known afterwards.

Yesterday, the stock market witnessed an upward trajectory as the KSE 100 index recorded an increase of 816 points to regain the 40,000 level lost last week.

The bullish run was seen on back of strong investor sentiments which increased buying ahead of major financial results. The global equity markets and surging global oil prices lent further support to the stock market.