KARACHI
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) commenced the week on a negative note amid profit-taking on Monday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index losing 925.35 points (-1.40 percent) to close at 65,204.67 points.
The market opened on a positive note but remained in the green territory during the first hour’s trading only. Later profit-taking was witnessed that continued for the rest of the session. According to experts, negativity came on account of profit-taking by investors. They said that other than that, there are no significant factors that dampen the market sentiment. They said that the current account posted a surplus of $9 million in November 2023 after four consecutive months of deficits, while internationally, oil prices, despite the recent increase, remain low.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 1,521.67 points, showing an intraday high of 66,586.61 points and an intraday low of 65,064.94 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 405.38 points (-0.93 percent) to close at 43,643.83 points. Similarly, the KMI All Share Islamic Index shed 342.29 points (-1.07 percent) to close at 31,861.91 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index decreased by 20.65 million shares to 963.38 million shares against 984.03 million shares traded in the previous session. However, the overall market volumes increased by 149.06 million shares to 1,890.42 million shares against 1,741.36 million shares traded a session earlier.
Among scrips, WTL topped the volumes with 444.14 million shares, followed by KEL (392.75 million) and CNERGY (205.41 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included WTL, KEL, CNERGY, HASCOL, and POB, which formed over 66 percent of total volumes.
A total of 379 companies traded shares in the stock exchange against 386 in the previous session, out of which shares of 106 closed up, shares of 263 companies closed down while shares of 10 companies remained unchanged. A total of 94 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against 95 in the previous session, out of which share prices of 14 companies closed up, 79 companies closed down and one remained unchanged.
The number of total trades decreased to 295,493 from 315,202 in the previous session, while the value traded decreased by Rs5.38 billion to Rs24.60 against Rs29.98 billion in the previous session.
In terms of rupee, HPL remained the top gainer with an increase of Rs49 (+4.08 percent) per share, closing at Rs1,249. The runner-up remained MEHT, the share price of which climbed up by Rs25 (+5 percent) to Rs799.01. RMPL remained the top loser with a decrease of Rs250 (-2.5 percent) per share, closing at Rs9,750, followed by SFL, the share price of which fell by Rs142.5 (-7.5 percent) to close at Rs1,757.5 per share.
The sectors taking the index towards south were commercial banks (273 points), fertilizer (152 points), oil & gas exploration companies (142 points),oil & gas marketing companies (64 points), cement (61 points), investment banks/ investment companies/ securities companies (52 points), food and beverages (37 points), pharmaceutical (26 points), cable and electrical goods (22 points). The major companies depriving the index of points remained PPL (36 points), MEBL (32 points), ENGRO (31 points), DAWH (30 points), OGDC (29 points), FFC (28 points), MCB (25 points), UBL (24 points), and LUCK and PSO (20 points each).
The major sectors taking the index towards north remained power generation & distribution (16 points), Miscellaneous (10 points) and refinery (3 points). The major companies adding points to the index remained KEL (24 points), PTC (11 points), PSMC (8 points), PSEL (6 points), MEHT (5 points), CNERGY, SILK and PIA (4 points each), and WTL and HCAR (3 points each).
