KARACHI
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) turned bearish for the second consecutive day on the back of rising political temperature, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index losing 391.59 points (-0.94 percent) to close at 41,442.07 points on Thursday.
The market opened on a sharp positive note and surged by 130 points within minutes. However, this positiveness of the market proved short-lived and the index started coming down and the losing spree continued for the entire session. However, the market recouped a fraction of the losses in the last half an hour for being oversold. The market witnessed a low-volume session as compared to previous days.
The KSE-100 Index moved in a range of 552.63 points, showing an intraday high of 41,964.26 and a low of 41,411.63. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 118.86 points (-0.43 percent) to close at 27,442.10 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index shed 53.38 points (-0.27 percent) to close at 19,765.76 points.
The overall market volumes decreased by 24.21 million to 101.32 million shares against 125.53 million shares a session earlier. Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index remained 49.25 million against 55.09 million a session earlier, showing a decrease of 5.84 million shares.
A total of 301 companies traded shares in the stock exchange as compared to 319 a session earlier. Out of traded companies, shares of 82 closed up, shares of 199 closed down while shares of 20 companies remained unchanged. A total of 91 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against 92 a session earlier, out of which shares of 16 companies closed up, 73 closed down and two remained unchanged.
The number of total trades increased by 1,390 to 66,766 against 65,376 a session earlier, while the value traded decreased by Rs0.55 billion to Rs2.99 billion.
Among scrips, WTL topped the volumes with 9.89 million shares, followed by PRL (7.53 million) and CNERGY (6.66 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included WTL, PRL, CNERGY, OGDC and FFL, which formed around 33 percent of total volumes.
In terms of rupee, NESTLE remained the top gainer and witnessed an increase of Rs300 (+5.04 percent) per share, closing at Rs6,250. The runner-up remained SFL, the share price of which climbed up by Rs58.92 (+5.5 percent) to Rs1,131. BATA remained the top loser in terms of rupee and witnessed a decrease of Rs50 (-2.99 percent) per share, closing at Rs1,625, followed by INDU, the share price of which fell by Rs13.75 (-1.46 percent) to close at Rs930.11 per share.
The sectors taking the index towards south were commercial banks (-128.1 points), technology & communication (-94.4 points), fertilizer (-56.1 points), exploration and production companies (-45.1 points), and power generation & distribution (-27.6 points).
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited attributed the decline to the political uncertainty surrounding the former prime minister. This uncertainty has raised concerns among investors, leading to cautious trading decisions and a negative market sentiment.
Meanwhile, former finance minister Miftah Ismail Thursday revealed that prominent businessmen are set to hold a crucial meeting with Imran Khan. The purpose of the meeting is to defuse political tensions that have been gripping the nation. Miftah Ismail highlighted the importance of such discussions in reducing the overall political temperature and promoting stability.
