Market watch
Benchmark KSE-100 index sheds 208.43 points to close at 44,978.05
TLTP
KARACHI
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a bearish trend on Monday and the benchmark KSE-100 Index shed 208.43 points (-0.46 percent) to close at 44,978.05 points.
The market opened on a positive note due to strong inflows from overseas Pakistani in the form of remittances that clocked in at $2.72 billion; however, bearish sentiments prevailed due to rising Covid-19 cases. The KSE-100 Index traded in a range of 509.1 points, showing an intraday high of 45,267.4 and a low of 44,758.3.
Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 209.32 points (-0.68 percent ) to close at 30,500.22 points, while All Share Islamic Index shed 192.9 points (-0.87 percent) to close at 21,970.75 points.
A total of 387 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of them shares of 130 closed up, shares of 234 closed down while shares of 23 companies remained unchanged.
The overall market volumes decreased by 184.51 million to 503.53 million shares, while market capitalisation decreased by Rs57.58 billion. The number of total trades decreased by 21,384 to 160,077, and value traded decreased by Rs5.37 billion to Rs19.97 billion.
Among scrips, WTL topped the volumes with 73.7 million shares followed by TRG (42.1 million) and GGL (38.8 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include WTL, TRG, GGL, TELE and BYCO, which formed 42 percent of total volumes.
Sector-wise, the index was let down by oil & gas marketing companies with 36 points, commercial banks with 32 points, pharmaceuticals with 26 points, chemical with 23 points and cement with 23 points. The most points taken off the index was by ENGRO which stripped the index of 44 points followed by PSO with 25 points, OGDC with 22 points, SEARL with 21 points and UBL with 16 points.
The sectors propping up the index were technology & communication with 89 points, real estate investment trust with 3 points, paper & board with 2 points and leasing companies with 1 point. The most points added to the index was by TRG which contributed 98 points followed by FFC with 24 points, MCB with 19 points, EFERT with 12 points and LUCK with 6 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market took a toll from the possibility of imposition of lock down in the light of NCOC proposal, although a firm decision is yet to be taken. Selling pressure was evident across the board with the exception of a few scrips, including TRG, GGL, MCB and FFC, which somewhat supported the index. Overall the index lost 428 points during the session and closed the session -208 points.
They said that the refinery sector, which has lately coincided with technology stocks also went down following weak investor sentiment.
As per the closing note by Topline Securities, the market saw selling pressure during the trading session which was primarily caused by concerns over Covid-19 lockdowns in cities where the infection ratio is above 15 percent. The market initially cheered the strong inflows from overseas Pakistani in the form of remittances that clocked in at $2.72 billion. However, later, investors in the market found themselves under the influence of bearish sentiments amid rising virus severity, according to the note.
