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VIS Window
END February review
War clouds dampen activity
During February 2003, dismal performance of the Karachi stock market continued for the second month in a row. remained highly volatile during January 2003. Market activities remained marred primarily due to fear of war breaking out between the US and Iraq. Moreover, as every year, February is considered as one of the quieter months in terms of earnings releases and pay out streams.The News-Prime Bank Composite Index of VIS lost substantially during February 2003. At the end of the month, the index reached 4271.5 points heavily losing 174.4 points which was about 4 per cent of its value recorded at the close of January 2003 i.e. 4445.8 points.
During February, the index closed as high as 4420.9 points which was on the 18th whereas the lowest recording of 4271.5 points was made on the 28th of the month.
On nine out of 15 days when trading commenced at the KSE during February, the index closed in the negative column whereas it gained value at the end of the remaining six days.
Both the two major components of the Composite Index, Financials and Industrials indices moved in lockstep with the Composite and both lost heavily on their values over the month.
Financials index closed at 2620.8 points with a major fall of 204.3 points or 7.2 per cent over its end-January's close of 2825.1 points. Industrial Index, the other major component of the Composite, reached 5037.2 points losing 112.0 points or 2.2 per cent over its preceding month's close of 5149.2 points.
There were 29 out of 36 sector indices of the News-Prime Bank Index Family that posted loss during February 2003 whereas the remaining seven gained value during the said period.
Among the sector indices on the financials side, the index of 'Brokerage Firms' sector was the sole one that appreciated during the month which is quite understandable in light of very high trade volumes witnessed in the last few months skyrocketing the stock brokerage revenues. On the other hand, index of the 'Insurance Companies' sector was most badly hit ending up with a decline of 66.3 points or 14.6 per cent.
On the industrial side, the index of 'Tobacco' sector topped the list which was primarily due to price appreciation in few leading tobacco stocks in view of handsome payouts. The 'Tobacco' index reached 877.9 points with a substantial increase of 124.3 points or 16.5 per cent. During the said month, index of 'Textile Composite' sector declined the most sweeping 10.5 per cent during the month.
Other Market-Indicators:
The KSE-100, which is a market capitalization based index maintained by the Karachi Stock Exchange, continued its slide this month which was triggered in the last week of January. KSE-100 index dropped back to 2399.2 points from 2545.1 points with an over-the-month loss of 145.9 points or 5.7 per cent.
Trading at the Lahore and Islamabad Stock Exchanges was no different than that witnessed at the KSE. Bears were the rulers. also remained dominated by the bulls. At the end of July 2002, LSE-101 of Lahore closed at 321.6 points with a rise of 16.2 points or 5.3 per cent over its end-June closing. Similarly, ISE-Network Index of Islamabad, which is also a price-based composite index developed by VIS, progressed by 100.6 points or 2.2 per cent and closed at 4,583.9 points.
There was a decline in the average daily turnover at the KSE. On an average, 138 million shares changed hands on each of the 15 days of trading as against an average turnover of about 400 million shares estimated for 22 days of trading in January 2003. Lesser than usual number of trading days is attributed to the holidays on account of Eid-ul-Adha.
News-Prime Bank Indexes
Major Indexes
Major Index Closing as on Change over
Feb. 28, 2002 Jan. 31, 2002
Composite 4,271.5 -174.4 (-3.9%)
Financials 2,620.8 -204.3 (-7.2%)
Industrials 5,037.2 -112.0 (-2.2%)
Base: 10,000 January 29, 1994
Top Percentage Gaining
Sector Indexes
Sector Index Closing as on Change over
Feb. 28, 2002 Jan. 31, 2002
Tobacco 877.9 124.3 (16.5%)
Auto Parts & Batteries 351.2 25.5 (7.8%)
Toiletries 1,943.2 98.3 (5.3%)
Brokerage Firms 313.3 12.2 (4.1%)
Glass & Ceramics 383.9 10.4 (2.8%)
Base: 1,000 January 29, 1994
Top Percentage Losing
Sectors Indexes
Sector Index Closing as on Change over
Feb. 28, 2002 Jan. 31, 2002
Insurance 387.9 -66.3 (-14.6%)
Textile Composite 430.8 -50.3 (-10.5%)
Petroleum & Oilfields 820.2 -80.7 (-9.0%)
Mutual Funds 320.3 -27.9 (-8.0%)
Modarabas 261.0 -21.7 (-7.7%)
Base: 1,000 January 29, 1994