Despite an eagerly anticipated increase of Rs210 per bag from Engro to purge the fertiliser sector of the GIDC burden, sector stocks remained subdued as rumours spread that the government was planning on intervening to halt the price hike. Apart from Engro which saw a 1.5 per cent gain from its last closing price, the rest of its peers displayed a muted reaction with FATIMA surprising everyone by ending up in the red zone.
To add insult to injury, KSE-100 index took a 62 point plunge on the day as heavy foreign selling in index titan OGDC dragged the index down. It also looks like NIPH divestment of its Hubco stake has finally caught up with the script as it led the volume leader board with 5.5 million shares and lost 1.65 per cent on the day. With the port city marred in a spate of violence in the latter half of the day due to a prominent ANP leader being assassinated, the equity market’s woes are only getting worse day by day, said Ali Hussain at HMFS.
KSE-100 index closed at 11125.35 levels with a loss of 62.53 points, while KSE 30 index lost 41.16 points to close at 10165.59 levels. All Share index closed at 7716.86 levels after losing 38.79 points. Total 96 scrips advanced 105 declined and 109 remain unchanged out of total 310 scrips traded.
