The KSE-100 index declined by 253.24 points or 0.67 percent to close at 37,542.01 points. Trading activity remained extremely low as daily volumes on the ready counter decreased to 67.958 million shares as compared to 133.646 million shares traded Wednesday.
Foreign investors remained net sellers of shares worth $0.1 million. The market capitalization declined by Rs 107 billion to Rs 7.681 trillion. Out of total 319 active scrips, 219 closed in negative, only 88 in positive while the value of 12 stocks remained unchanged.
TRG Pak was the volume leader with 10.927 million shares. However, it declined by Rs 1.06 to close at Rs 22.34 followed by Pak Elektron that lost Re 0.75 to close at Rs 24.80 with 4.972 million shares. Unilever Foods and Mari Petroleum were the top gainers with Rs 75.00 and Rs 18.11 respectively to close at Rs 7,200.00 and Rs 1,304.90. Nestle Pakistan and Pak Tobacco were the top losers with Rs 429.00 and Rs 142.98 respectively to close at Rs 8,501.00 and Rs 2,856.02.
BR Commercial Banks Index gained 12.3 points or 0.15 percent to close at 8,076.14 points with total turnover of 6.329 million shares. BR Cement Index lost 18.68 points or 0.46 percent to close at 4,039.81 points with 7.971 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index decreased by 62.71 points or 1.38 percent to close at 4,482.15 points with 4.881 million shares. BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 942.13 points, down 28.57 points or 2.94 percent with 13.677 million shares. BR Power Generation and Distribution Index declined by 85.11 points or 1.42 percent to close at 5,898.31 points with 2.755 million shares.
An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the market slid again after Wednesday's onslaught of negative 200 points at end. The market opened with negative sentiment and scant buyers. Volumes remained ultra thin throughout the day and investors declined to consider blue chips at lower prices compared to previous day with the anticipation of further declines ahead.
E&P sector remained red with the exception of POL for most part of the day, but end of trading session took the price below previous day's closing. Volumes were mainly seen in TRG, PAEL and DOL which are largely off-board scrips.
OGDC saw volumes of 3 million and heavy selling was observed in the last half hour. Chemical sector, which showed high volume, saw EPCL improving over previous day however major volumes were registered in DOL.
Stocks that contributed positively include ENGRO (up 39 points), UBL (up 19 points), MARI (up 9 points), LUCK (up 8 points) and BAFL (up 6 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include OGDC (down 63 points), PPL (down 50 points), PAKT (down 38 points), HUBC (down 26 points) and NESTLE (down 21 points).