STOCK MARKET UPDATE: 19.03.2013

STOCKS

Karachi Stocks Down  172.83 Points:
KARACHI, Mar 18: At the close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 17,492, down-172.83 points.

(Today Market is 139.82 Up@ 11.27 am)

March 18, 2013

 5 TOP GAINERS  &  LOOSERS:

Bata (Pak)	Rs 40.00	Colgate Palmolive	Rs (39.83)
Philip Morris Pak.	Rs 10.40	Indus Dyeing	Rs (21.40)
Lucky Cement	Rs 3.57	Shezan Inter	Rs (20.00)
Adamjee Ins.	Rs 3.46	Siemens Pakistan	Rs (10.00)
OGDC	Rs 2.29	MCB Bank Ltd.	Rs (8.56)

KSE 100-index drops 172 points

KARACHI, March 18: Stocks fell across the board on Monday with the KSE-100 index down 172.83 points to 17,492 points.
Dealers said that uncertainty on the political front, where the choice of the care-taker prime minister had hit stalemate, kept investors away from the market. The bank stocks dipped on the SBP move directing a better return to depositors, which investors thought could go to impact the banks’ bottomline.
Yet, the local market also dipped in line with international bourses on concerns of an unprecedented levy on bank deposits in Cyprus. Asian stocks were headed for the biggest decline in a month, led by raw material producers as fears were triggered of a plunge of Europe back into financial crisis. China was thought to increase efforts to curb property prices. Investors dumped stocks and ran to the safety of safe havens, gold, oil and fixed instruments.
The positive for the local market was that the heavy-weight oil and gas stock OGDC rose by Rs2.29, which prevented the index from plunging further by 50 points.
Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said that the stocks closed bearish amid thin trade as investors awaited announcement of political consensus on new interim government setup.
Stocks fell across-the-board after SBP announcement for banking sector minimum profit payouts on rupee savings deposits. Institutional support in oversold stocks in oil and cement sectors later in the trading session supported the index to close above day’s low.
Foreign investors continued to be on the ‘buy’ side, picking up stocks of the value of $0.83m on Monday. Among the local participants, companies bought $1.99m worth stocks.
Manager Equity Sales, Topline Securities commented that the banking sector fell with relatively low volumes. SBP decision to provide minimum 6% return to depositors on average monthly balance caused investors to sell banking stocks. BAFL and UBL closed at its lower limit while MCB Bank declined 4.5pc.
The market capitalisation-based KSE-30 index slipped 131.15 points to settle at 14,041.02 points.
Turnover dropped sharply by 10 million shares to 104 million shares on Monday, from 115 million shares traded on Friday. Market capitalisation slumped by Rs32 billion to Rs4.332 trillion, from Rs4.364tr last Friday.
In all, 301 stocks came up for trading on Monday, with 190 ending in loses, 89 gainers and 22 scrips closing at their last level.
The biggest losers during the day were Colgate Palmolive, down by Rs39.83 to Rs1844.62, followed by Indus Dyeing lower by Rs21.40 to Rs443.00. Other big losers were Siemens Pakistan down by Rs10.00 and MCB Bank declining by Rs8.56 in consequence of the SBP directive about payment of returns on deposits.
The major gainer for the day was Bata (Pak) up by Rs40 to Rs1,300 and Phillip Morris Pakistan higher by Rs10.40 to Rs242.91. Other big gainers included Lucky Cement up by Rs3.57 and Adamjee Ins higher by Rs3.46.
On the 10 actively traded list, Dewan Motors saw turnover in 12m shares, up by 33 paisa to Rs3.68, Bank Alfalah trading spot fell by 98 paisa to Rs17.32 on 9m shares, Engro Corporation lost another Rs2.50 to Rs117.11 on 7m shares, the stock has been under pressure on gas pricing.
Lotte PakPTA edged higher by 18 paisa to Rs7.92 on 6m shares, Lafarge Pakistan Cement slipped 20 paisa to Rs5.95 on 6m shares, PTC fell by 38 paisa to Rs20.11 on 5m shares, Maple Leaf Cement was up by 5 paisa to Rs17.20 on 5m shares, Jah Sidd Co declined 15 paisa to Rs14.10 on 4m shares, TRG Pakistan down 44 paisa to Rs.37 on 3m shares and NBP easier by 91 paisa to Rs51.82 on 3m shares.

Company News:

Byco refinery ready for production: KARACHI, March 18: Byco’s 120,000 barrels per day (bpd) oil refinery completed its 72-hour continuous performance test run at 60 per cent of its capacity over the week-end.
During the performance test-run operation the refinery produced fully on-specification petroleum products such as naphtha, kerosene, HSD and HSFO.
The refinery has completed all critical tests which render assurance to credible mechanical integrity and operability. As a result, the refinery is ready in all respects for production of petroleum products.
Qaiser Jamal, Chief Executive Officer, Byco Oil Pakistan Limited, in a statement said the refinery will greatly enhance the domestic refining capacity, taking the current capacity of 12.5m tonnes per annum to 18.5m tonnes per annum.

MOHAMMED SALEEM MANSOORI