STOCK MARKET UPDATE: 11.03.2013

STOCKS

Karachi Stocks Down 45.51 Points:
KARACHI, Mar 08: At the close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 17947.40, down 45.51 points.

  (Today Market is 33.53 Down@ 10.44 am)

March 08, 2013

 5 TOP GAINERS  &  LOOSERS:

Colgate Palmolive	Rs 84.00	Unilever Pak	Rs (103.75)
Wyeth Pak Limited	Rs 40.00	Bata (Pak)	Rs (67.67)
Shezan Inter.	Rs 20.61	Philip Morris Pa	Rs (11.31)
Exide (PAK)	Rs 16.22	Sapphire Fiber	Rs (8.60)
Indus Dyeing	Rs 11.33	Attock Petroleum	Rs (7.19)

Choppy conditions persist on stock market

KARACHI, March 8: Shares lost values on Friday, the KSE-100 index closing 28.73 per cent down to 17,964.18 points.
In early trade, the benchmark plunged 99 points to day’s low at 17,894.48 points as sentiments were dampened by reports that the Federal Communication Commission of United States has given an order disabling the higher payments charged by LDI operators since October last year in response to an appeal filed by US firm Vonage Holding Corp. The US regulator would be paying only $0.02 for termination charges, reports reaching here said.
People at Arif Habib Equity Sales said that the adverse news flow in the telecom sparked across-the-board selling at local bourse. All the shares on telecom sector went into a tailspin. “Initial estimates suggest a minor impact of 2.7pc-3.2pc on the bottom-line of telecom operators, but the negative development shattered investors’ confidence.
The major telcom stock, PTC lost Rs1.04 closing at the lower circuit with the highest volume of trade for the day.
Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp commented that the stocks closed bearish in the final session of the week amid institutional profit-taking in stocks across the board.
Other negative news flow was concerns over security situation in the city, dismal cement sales figures for the months of Feb 2013 and overall economic uncertainty.
All of those affected the sentiments despite easing of gas shortfall problems and expected ECC approval for raise in refineries deemed duty to 9pc.
Samar Iqbal at Topline Securities commented that Engro Corporation closed at its upper cap after unconfirmed news that they would get gas at a lower rate than anticipated earlier.
Foreign inflow on Friday stood at $0.91 million. Purchases and sales by local participants were significantly low from all institutional and individual investors.
The turnover on Friday was higher at 236 million shares, from 185 million shares that changed hands the day earlier. Trading value jumped to Rs8.1 billion, from Rs5.6 billion. Market capitalisation, however, was trimmed to Rs4.462 trillion, from Rs4.468 trillion on Thursday.
In all 336 stocks came up for trading on Friday, with the losing stocks at 198, far ahead of the gainers at 114. Another 24 scrips closed at their unchanged values.
The highest gains were recorded in Colgate Palmolive, up by Rs84 to Rs1764.01 and Wyeth Pakistan up by Rs40 to Rs940. Among the declining issues, UniLever Pak plunged by Rs103.75 to Rs11,000 and Bata (Pak) slipped by Rs67.67 to Rs1,325.
On the 10-top active list, PTC on volume of 45m shares, dipped by Rs1.04 to Rs20.76. It was followed by another telecom stock, Telecard, which lost 67 paisa to Rs5.75 on 29m shares.
Engro Corporation, which has recorded handsome gains during the week, rose to its upper lock on Friday, just before the closing time, adding Rs5.81 to its value to Rs127.98.
WorldCall Telecom shed 24 paisa to Rs3 on 14m shares; Lafarge Pakistan, the cement stock, slipped 17 paisa to Rs5.99 on 11m shares, Fauji Cement was down 15 paisa to Rs8.18 on 11m shares, Jah Sidd Co was easier by 22 paisa to Rs14.94 on 6m shares, Lotte PakPTA shed 26 paisa to Rs7.51 on 5m shares, Wateen Telecom, in sympathy with other telecom stocks, eased by 28 paisa to Rs2.91 on 5m shares and Maple Leaf Cement was down by 52 paisa to Rs17.12 on 5m shares.
Pakistan stocks close lower; rupee strengthens: KARACHI: Pakistan's stock market closed lower on Friday, dragged down by sectarian and ethnic violence in commercial capital Karachi, traders said.

After a seven-week bull run, the Karachi Stock Exchange's (KSE) benchmark 100-share index ended 0.16 percent, or 28.73 points, lower at 17,964.18 points.

Falling share prices for OGDC and MCB pushed the index below 18,000 points, said Samar Iqbal, of Topline Securities.

Engro Corporation closed at its upper cap after unconfirmed news that they would get gas at a lower rate than anticipated, said a dealer.

Engro rose 4.99 percent to 128.27 rupees, while Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation was down 5 percent to 20.71 rupees.

In the currency market, the rupee ended at 97.70/97.75 against the dollar, stronger than Thursday's close of 97.95/98.00.

Overnight rates in the money market fell to 9 percent form Thursday's close of 9.40 percent. (Reuters)

MOHAMMED SALEEM MANSOORI