KARACHI: Bears tightened their hold on the stock market on Friday as the KSE-100 index witnessed a steep drop of 343.13 points (1.06 per cent) and closed at 32,103.27.

As widespread selling was seen across the board, major bleeding was witnessed in the exploration and production, refinery, cement, autos, steel and oil and gas marketing companies.

Analysts said that only a few small- and mid-cap banks remained unscathed as investors hoped that the latest hike in State Bank of Pakistan interest rate would cast a positive spell on their bottom lines.

Investors decided to reduce their positions on the last day of the rollover of future contracts. The market anxiety stemmed from fireworks displayed by the opposition political parties, which also put the positives of the Prime Minister’s visit to the US in the shade.

The index took a one-way journey to the south in both the sessions, to hit intra-day low by 414 points.

Volumes increased from 63.8 million shares to 86.6m shares (up 36pc day-on-day) while the traded value declined 18pc to reach $12.1m as against $14.6m the previous day.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included Bank of Punjab, Worldcall Telecom, Pak Elektron, Maple Leaf Cement Factory (MLCF) and K-Electric, which formed 50pc of total turnover.

Sector-wise, fertiliser lost 46 points, power 40 points and cements 38 points. Selling pressure was witnessed in the cements where Pioneer Cement was down 5pc, D G Khan Cement 5pc, MLCF 4.69pc, Cherat Cement Co 4.8pc and Fauji Cement Company Ltd 4.1pc were the major losers.

In the exploration and production sector, all three big stocks, Oil and Gas Development Co (OGDC) down 1.0pc, Pakistan Oilfields Ltd 0.3pc and Pakistan Petroleum Ltd 0.2pc closed in the red as crude oil prices dipped in the international market.

Fauji Fertiliser bin Qasim Ltd was also down 5.9pc from the fertiliser sector after the company declared its 1HYC19 results posting a loss of Rs2.09 per share.

Scrip-wise, stocks that contributed most to the index downside included Hub Power Company 31 points, Pak Tobacco 27 points, Fauji Fertiliser Co 20 points, OGDC 18 points and Nestle 15 points.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2019