Karachi: Pakistan equities took a sharp dip on Wednesday amid security concerns and measures being taken by the regulator to enhance and improve risk management regime. The Index continued its declining trend by shedding 553 points or 1.13 percent to close down at 49,214 level, mainly due to rumors of margin selling. Reduction in the number of margin eligible securities acceptable as collateral also contributed to the negative sentiments. Despite a positive open, wider market struggled to find a clear direction and traded in a narrow range in the initial hours due to limited participation, as resumption of the court hearing on PM’s family’s case over Panama allegations kept investor’s attention diverted until midday. Market then took a nosedive on reports of possible margin selling while new regulations and measures to enhance and improve risk management gave a good excuse for equities to correct, said analysts at Elixir Securities. “Weak global crude prices, dismal earning announcements in the banking sector and cautious activity on regulatory oversight played a catalyst role in bearish close at PSX”, observed, Ahsan Mehanti, senior stock analyts. Retail-driven stocks all came under pressure with K-Electric leading volumes on KSE100 and closing lower on news of the energy regulator requesting details of the recent M&A deal before giving a final nod on management handover. Moreover, Fauji Cement 1H earnings that were lower than consensus dented sentiment with most cement stocks closing lower inline with wider market direction. On the other hand, Al-Shaheer opened at upper price limit, while Fauji Foods too gained by 5 percent limit as investors cheered morning news of UAE lifting ban on poultry imports from Pakistan. FCCL announced its 2QFY17 EPS of Rs0.5/share which was in line with market consensus. However, absence of any cash dividend led the stock to decline by 2.6 percent. THCCL announced 1HFY17 EPS of Rs 4 per share which led the stock price to shoot up from its lower limit to gain by 0.5 percent. Overall, volumes increased by 18.1 percent to 417 million shares, while value rose by 1.1 percent Rs 17.4 billion/ $165 million. On Tuesday 353 million shares worth Rs17.2 billion/ $163 million were traded. K-electric remained on the top of volume leaders’ list with 45 million shares exchanged hands followed by Power Cement 39 million, Media Times 19 million, Aisha Steels 18 million, TRG Pakistan 18 million, Dost Steel 35 million and Engro Polymer 10 million. Shares of 413 companies were actively traded at the bourse out of which shares of 102 companies ended in green, 297 in red, while 14 remained unchanged. Analysts expect that the volatility may continue with flows setting the tone in days ahead as focus shifts from earnings to domestic politics, while 48,500 level is highlighted by chartists as a key support level.