Benchmark 100 witnessed mild correction after gaining 340 points in the previous three consecutive sessions backed by buoyant investor sentiments.
Index closed at 12,464 levels after shedding 45 points with dreary volumes of 52 million shares traded. Lack of investor participation was evident as KSE members gathered to discuss the issue of capital gains tax.
Engro gathered investor interest as the news of its EnVen 1.3 plant achieving COD floated the market. Healthy gains, especially during previous three sessions in the fertilizer and oil and gas sector scrips, instigated profit taking by savvy investors in today’s session. Benchmark100 gained merely 103 points during the week with average daily trading volume of 62 million shares.
The KSE 100 index closed at 12464.26 levels with the loss of 44.16 points and the total volume stood at 42,279,758 along with the total value of 2,690,803,453.
KSE 30 index lost 107.23 points to close at 11771.72 and All Share index closed at 8646.22 levels after losing 29.02 points. A total of 80 scrips advanced 160 declined and 91 remained unchanged out of a total 331 scrips traded.
Salman Vidhani at HMFS said that estimates predicting healthy earning growth in the upcoming result season are likely to push the market further north, albeit with minor hiccups here and there. Tumbling regional and international Oil and Equity markets took the local equities along, thereby disallowing the syndicated efforts poised towards a healthy closing for the running fiscal year.
A purposed reduction in military aid by the US, hesitance by IMF on conducting an early review for dispatch of outstanding tranche of standby agreement, and gloomy economic and financial situation kept traders cautious. Also, selective activity on dips restricted massive fall.
