The benchmark KSE-100 Index close at 45,652.62 points
KARACHI
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) remained bearish for the fourth day in a row on Thursday, withThe market opened on a slight positive note. The indices switched between the red and green territories for the first 45 minutes of the session and later, the bears took charge of the market till the end of the session. The market witnessed selling pressure amid a lack of positive triggers and rising commodity prices in the international market.
Moreover, sharp depreciation of rupee against the US dollar in the interbank market for the fourth day in a row also dented investors’ sentiments. The rupee has shed Rs5.42 against the US dollar and slipped to 186.97 from Rs181.55 during the last four days.
Ismail Iqbal Securities said in a closing note that equities witnessed selling pressure during the day due to rising treasury-bill yields and ongoing economic challenges. In Wednesday’s T–bill auction, the government raised Rs568bn against the target of Rs600 billion. Against the last auction, the 3M, 6M and 12M cutoff yields increased by 70bps, 60bps and 55bps, respectively, to 13.5 percent, 13.84 percent and 13.84 percent.
On the other hand, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail has said that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has demanded removal of energy subsidies, increased power tariff, Rs100 billion cut in development expenditure and additional taxation measures to revive the Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
The KSE-100 Index moved in a range of 467.22 points, showing an intraday high of 46,067.18 and a low of 45,599.96 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 151.79 points (-0.49 percent) to close at 31,055.57 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index shed 123.08 points (-0.54 percent) to close at 22,532.81 points.
A total of 329 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of them shares of 100 closed up, shares of 205 closed down while shares of 24 companies remained unchanged. Out of 90 traded companies in the KSE-100 Index, 22 closed up, 65 closed down and three remained unchanged.
The overall market volumes decreased by 48.57 million to 186.43 million shares. Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index decreased by 13.40 million to 98.25 million shares. The number of total trades decreased by 23,848 to 80,016, the value traded decreased by Rs2.39 billion to Rs5.62 billion. Overall market capitalisation decreased by Rs42.88 billion.
Among scrips, LOTCHEM topped the volumes with 19.98 million shares, followed by CNERGY (19.86 million) and PRL (12.9 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included LOTCHEM, CNERGY, PRL, HUMNL and GGL, which formed around 37 percent of total volumes.
In terms of rupee, COLG remained the top gainer and witnessed an increase of Rs35 (+1.52 percent) per share, closing at Rs2,335. The runner-up remained INDU, the share price of which climbed up by Rs8.21 (+0.61 percent) to Rs1,348.96. NESTLE remained the top loser in terms of rupee and witnessed a decrease of Rs99 (-1.77 percent) per share, closing at Rs5,501, followed by MARI, the share price of which declined by Rs29.47 (-1.7 percent) to close at Rs1,701.36 per share.
The sectors taking the index towards the south were commercial banks (62 points), oil & gas exploration companies (37 points), fertilizer and cement (35 points each), and technology & communication (32 points). The most points taken off the index were by ENGRO (64 points), BAHL (34 points), SYS (21 points), MARI (20 points) and POL (16 points).
The sectors taking the index towards the north were refinery (10 points), glass & ceramics (6 points) and investment banks/ investment companies/ securities companies (2 points). The most points added to the index were by EFERT (25 points), LOTCHEM (8 points), CNERGY (8 points), COLG (6 points) and AKBL (6 points).
