Bears prevail in Karachi stocks

Mounting selling pressure trimmed values of leading scripts at Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) Tuesday as 100-Index plunged by 174.08 points to close at 8,762.40, dealers said.A dealer said that market opened on a positive note, but slipped on to selling pressure within half an hour. The selling pressure, mostly from institutions, continued till the close of trading, he added.The turnover volume was the lowest at 77.9690 million in the last one year as 277 scripts sustained loss and 93 advanced while 15 remained unchanged.The market capitalization eroded by Rs 51.02 billion to Rs 2.537 trillion.Jahangir Siddiqui Co was the volume leader with a turnover of 5.675 million shares followed by Nishat Mills 4.440 million shares, Pak PTA 4.098 million shares, Arif Habib Sec 4.045 million shares and Bosicor Pak 3.144 million shares.Nishat Mills closed at 56.47, Jahangir Siddiqui 28.01, Arif Habib Sec 46.01, OGDC 102.08, Adamjee Insurance 112.59 and Lucky Cement 59.32.Rafhan Maize recorded the highest increase of Rs 75 to 1650 followed by Wyeth Pak which moved up by 59 to 1314 while Siemens Pak dipped by 69.17 to 1325.31 and Nestle Pak went down by Rs 44.49 to 1180.01.