Bearish spell pushes Karachi stock exchange below 22,000

Equities at Pakistan\'s Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) recorded bearish trading activities on opening day of the fresh week as the main index shed over 200 points to close well below the psychological barrier of 22,000 with local investors staying on the sidelines. The KSE 100-Index fell by 1 percent or 221.11 points to close at 21,864.85 points on Monday as against 22.085.96 points recorded on Friday. The KSE All Share Index shed 0.69 percent or 110.30 points to end at 15.899.48 points, the KSE 30-Index dropped 1.22 percent or 204.03 points to conclude at 16,573.08 points, whereas the KMI 30- Index declined by 1.28 percent or 485.49 points to finish the inaugural session of the week at 37,309.81 points. The Karachi Stock Exchange began the day amid strong selling spree but not before the main index hit an intraday highest point of 22,104.37. The strong selling pressure forced the main index into red territory where after moving in a narrow range during intraday trade it fell to the lowest level of the day of 21,842.51. Market remained under strong selling pressure all day long where only some oil and gas sector companies finished in green ink. The Sui Southern Gas Company (+1.20 rupees per share), the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (+0.22 rupees per share), and Pakistan State Oil (+0.26 rupees per share) were among the few intraday gainers. Engro Foods also gained 74 paisas per share. The market volumes shrank further by 21.207 million shares to 84.099 million shares on Monday, the market capitalization reduced by 35.723 billion rupees (340.228 million U.S. dollars) to 5.204 trillion rupees (49.565 billion U.S. dollars), whereas the KSE trading value dipped by 953.161 million rupees (9.077 million U.S. dollars) to 2.634 billion rupees (25.093 million U.S. dollars) on Monday. As per the figures released by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited (NCCPL), the foreign investors came up with net buying of 722.334 million rupees (6.879 million U.S. dollars) from October 1-4, 2013 at the top Pakistani bourse. In broader market, a total of 309 companies changed hands during the course of trading on Monday where prices of 205 issues declined, 84 advanced, whereas values of 20 other scrips stayed unchanged at previous week\'s levels. Pakistan International Airlines was the top traded company of the day with volume of 10.906 million shares, followed by First National Equities and Bank of Punjab with turnovers of 4.978 million shares and 4.913 million shares, respectively. Rafhan Maize Products XD emerged as the top price gainer of the day with increment of 240 rupees (2.28 US dollars) per share to close at 5,040 rupees (48 US dollars) while on the other hand Wyeth Pakistan Limited led the major price shedders of the day with decrement of 222.50 rupees (2.11 US dollars) to finish at 4, 227.50 (40.26 US dollars).