The benchmark KSE-100 index dropped 4.61% as the day progressed. The index fell by 1,810.76 points ending at 48,780.81. The KMI 30 index shed 4.09% and the KSE All Share Index fell by 3.32%. Only 37 scripts soared while 344 declined.
It was not an expected welcome for Pakistan at the Emerging Market Index. The benchmark KSE-100 index became Asia’s worst performer on Day one of trading. Contrary to market expectations of huge inflows, foreign investors ended up as net sellers of US$ 83 million on Wednesday and continued the outpour on Thursday. According to market analysts, increasing current account deficit has rendered the foreign investor confidence even lower.
Notification of Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures for the month of May during the session also negatively affected investor confidence. CPI clocked over 5% the highest since November 2014. The proposal of a flat rate of capital gains irrespective of holding period announced in the recent budget also added fuel to the fire.
The market volumes saw an increase in the last two hours of trading and were reported at 403.94 million. The market leaders included K-Electric Limited (KEL -3.74%) with 49.82 million shares traded, The Bank of Punjab (R ) (BOPR -15.44%) and Power Cement Limited (R ) (POWERR -14.58%) which followed with volumes of 27.60 million and 23.72 million respectively.
Top 10 index point losers were HBL (-4 per cent), UBL (-4.8 per cent), OGDC (-4.7 per cent), LUCK (-4.7 per cent), HUBC (-4.1 per cent), ENGRO (-3.8 per cent), MCB (-4.2 per cent), PPL (-4.2 per cent), DGKC (-4.6 per cent) & PSO (-4.4 per cent), taking away 876 points from the index.
Stocks were generally red across sectors. Market Capitalization of the commercial bank sector deteriorated by 3.85% and Oil and Gas Exploration sector by 4.37%. At one point over 100 scripts touched their lower circuit breaker figures.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange is set to offer 20% of its paid-up capital through book building and general subscription. The strike price is set at Rs 28 per share with a minimum bid of Rs 3 million. The book building will be held on June 6th and June 7th with 75% shares being offered. The remaining 25% will be laid out via general subscription on June 9th and June 12th.
$ 358 million outflows were reported to date in 2017 and close to 100 million in last two sessions, this is (81 million Wednesday and 16.5 million Thursday). However recent history was favourable, trading activity also picked up in May-2017, with average ready volumes clocking at 338 million shares/day (+40 per cent MoM) and average value at $184 million (+49 per cent MoM). The market had touched 53,200 point level in the month of May this year.
