The benchmark KSE-100 index declined by 54.43 points to 43,572.67 points. Trading activity remained low as average daily volume on the ready counter decreased to 126.714 million shares as compared to 148.358 million shares traded Friday. Foreign investors however remained net buyers of shares worth $2.3 million. The market capitalization declined by Rs 46 billion to Rs 9.005 trillion. Out of total 370 active scrips, 205 closed in negative, 140 in positive while the value of 25 stocks remained unchanged.
Fauji Foods was the volume leader with 9.804 million shares. It increased by Rs 1.30 to close at Rs 27.44 followed by TRG Pak that declined by Rs 1.07 to close at Rs 35.37 with 7.499 million shares. Hinopak Motor and Wyeth Pak were the top gainers with Rs 35.49 and Rs 35.09, respectively to close at Rs 1,210.99 and Rs 1,814.00. Rafhan Maize and Pak Tobacco were the top losers with Rs 200.00 and Rs 101.94, respectively to close at Rs 7,000.00 and Rs 1,936.96. BR Commercial Banks Index decreased by 34.42 points or 0.38 percent to close at 9,008.90 points with 8.641 million shares.
BR Cement Index lost 9.67 points or 0.17 percent to close at 5,570.91 points with 14.965 million shares. BR Oil and Gas Index closed at 5,195.01 points, down 7.57 points or 0.15 percent with 3.814 million shares. BR Tech. & Comm. Index decreased by 18.37 points or 1.51 percent to close at 1,196.45 points 12.187 million shares.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index plunged by 28.89 points or 0.45 percent to close at 6,432.24 points with 2.993 million shares. An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the benchmark index looked jittery where major part of the day, the index traded positive however the volumes were very low. Later part of the session showed stress on prices of small cap off-board scrips. Uncertainty of punitive action on Pakistan from being included in FATF terrorist watch list seems to be on the mind of investors, which is seen in cautious stance and low volumes.
Financial results of blue chip companies UBL and OGDC failed to garner support as Investors were expecting higher dividend declaration in case of OGDC. Scripts that contributed positively include LUCK (up 31 points), PSO (up 16 points), SEARL (up 13 points), BAHL (up 13 points) and KAPCO (up 11 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include PAKT (down 26 points), PPL (down 19 points), FCCL (down 13 points), UBL (down 12 points) and TRG (down 10 points).