KARACHI
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) extended its course of correction for the second straight session and witnessed its second highest ever day-on-day points decline on Tuesday.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index shed 2,371.64 points (-3.64 percent) to close at 62,833.03 points.
This bloodbath is second to the market’s fall on March 16, 2020 when the index shed 2,375.97 points due to emergence of Covid-19. The benchmark index also shed 925 points in the previous session, so the market has shed around 3,300 points in two days.
The market opened on a negative note and remained in the red territory throughout the session.
Across the board selling was witnessed with index-heavy sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, chemical, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, pharmaceuticals and refinery trading deep in the red.
The ongoing profit-taking trend came after the bourse had enjoyed a bullish spree that pushed the index beyond the 66,000 points mark.
The experts were of the view that correction was expected after the massive bull-run. Moreover, both the year-end and quarter-end are nearing, and the next week will be rollover week, so the market may face jitters in the coming days.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 2,771.25 points, showing an intraday high of 65,132.03 points and an intraday low of 62,360.78 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 1,676.30 points (-3.99 percent) to close at 41,967.53 points. The index shed 405.38 points (-0.93 percent) on Monday. Similarly, the KMI All Share Islamic Index shed 1,227.77 points (-4.01 percent) to close at 30,634.14 points after losing 342.29 points (-1.07 percent) in the previous session.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index decreased by 13.38 million shares to 950 million shares against 963.38 million traded in the previous session. Similarly, the overall market volumes decreased by 376.49 million shares to 1,513.93 million shares against 1,890.42 million shares traded a session earlier.
Among scrips, KEL topped the volumes with 341.07 million shares, followed by WTL (176.03 million) and CNERGY (131.72 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included KEL, WTL, CNERGY, POB, and PTC, which formed over 55 percent of total volumes.
A total of 385 companies traded shares in the stock exchange against 379 in the previous session, out of which shares of 31 closed up, shares of 350 companies closed down while shares of 4 companies remained unchanged. A total of 99 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against 94 in the previous session, out of which share prices of 4 companies closed up, 94 companies closed down and one remained unchanged.
The number of total trades increased to 310,487 from 295,493 in the previous session, while the value traded increased by Rs4.5 billion to Rs29.10 against Rs24.60 billion in the previous session.
In terms of rupee, RMPL remained the top gainer with an increase of Rs150 (+1.54 percent) per share, closing at Rs9,900. The runner-up remained PSEL, the share price of which climbed up by Rs44.63 (+4.13 percent) to Rs1,124.63. UPFL remained the top loser with a decrease of Rs725 (-3.25 percent) per share, closing at Rs21,550, followed by NESTLE, the share price of which fell by Rs400 (-4.71 percent) to close at Rs8,100 per share.
The sectors taking the index towards south were commercial banks (437 points), oil & gas exploration companies (301 points), fertilizer (231 points), cement (191 points), and technology & communication (165 points). The major companies depriving the index of points remained MCB (82 points), OGDC (71 points), DAWH (52 points), SYS (50 points), PPL (50 points), PSO (48 points), ENGRO and HUBC (44 points each), FFC (38 points) and HBL (36 points).
The major sector taking the index towards north remained miscellaneous, which added 14 points. The major companies adding points to the index remained PSEL (16 points), PSMC (12 points), MEBL and HCAR (5 points each), and RMPL and SAPT (2 points each).
