KARACHI
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) turned bearish in a range-bound as well as low-volume session on Tuesday due to persistent political uncertainty in the country, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding 26.43 points (-0.06 percent) to close at 43,203.79 points.
The PSX opened on a positive note and remained in the green territory for most part of the session. The last hour trading brought the index into the red territory and it finally closed after shedding 26 points.
The political instability in the country dented the investors’ confidence, as the parliament is moving closer to a vote of no-confidence move against Prime Minister Imran Khan, with both treasury and opposition benches expecting a victory.
On the other hand, the Pakistani rupee plunged to all-time lowest level of 181.73 against the US dollar during the day – setting seventh low in last seven sessions – smashing the investors’ confidence further. The rupee has set nine all-time record lows against the American currency during the last 15 days. Moreover, rising crude oil and other commodity prices are also weighing on the local bourse.
The KSE-100 Index moved in a range of 234.24 points, showing an intraday low of 43,164.20 points and a high of 43,398.44. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 19.73 points (-0.07 percent) to close at 29,629.01 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index shed 29.46 points (-0.14 percent) to close at 21,374.8 points.
A total of 354 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of them shares of 165 closed up, shares of 166 closed down while shares of 23 companies remained unchanged. Out of 88 traded companies in the KSE-100 Index, 39 closed up and 46 closed down and three remained unchanged.
The overall market volumes increased by 13.33 million to 138.28 million shares. Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index remained 53.94 million shares. The number of total trades increased by 4,442 to 64,458, while the value traded increased by Rs1.07 billion to Rs5.01 billion. Overall, market capitalisation decreased by Rs9.45 billion.
Among scrips, TREET topped the volumes with 15.35 million shares, followed by TPLP (8.38 million) and PAELR3 (7.36 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included TREET, TPLP, PAELR3, SMBL and TELE, which formed around 32 percent of total volumes.
In terms of rupee, UPFL remained the top gainer and witnessed an increase of Rs200 (0.86 percent) per share, closing at Rs23,449.5. The runner-up was COLG, the share price of which climbed up by Rs88 (4 percent) to Rs2,288. RMPL remained the top loser in terms of rupee and witnessed a decrease of Rs296.67 (2.54 percent) per share, closing at Rs11,403.33, followed by NESTLE, the share price of which declined by Rs124.4 (2.21 percent) to close at Rs5,515.6 per share.
The sectors taking the index towards south were commercial banks (36 points), oil & gas exploration companies (25 points), cement (19 points), automobile parts & accessories (12 points) and investment banks/ investment companies/ securities companies (10 points). The most points taken off the index were by PPL (20 points), BAHL (17 points), LUCK (16 points), SYS (14 points) and MCB (12 points).
The sectors taking the index towards north were fertilizer (27 points), power generation & distribution (24 points), technology & communication (15 points), chemical (13 points) and automobile assembler (9 points). The most points added to the index were by HUBC (29 points), TRG (22 points), ENGRO (20 points), COLG (16 points) and FATIMA (9 points).
