KARACHI
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) nosedived on Friday amid political uncertainty in the country, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding 777.26 points (-1.77 percent) to close at 43,029.97 points.
The PSX opened on a negative note and dropped over 500 points at the opening; however, the index recovered some losses during the first half of the session. The second half brought more destruction for the index and it continued its downward slide and fell just below the 43,000 points level before finally closing a little above the psychological level.
The political instability in the country dented the investors’ confidence, as the parliament is moving closer to a vote of no-confidence move against Prime Minister Imran Khan and the number game seems unfavourable for the premier to secure his slot. On the other hand, the Pakistani rupee plunged to all-time lowest level of 180.57 against the US dollar during the day – setting fifth low in last five days – smashing the investors’ confidence further. The rupee has set seven all-time record lows against the American currency during the last two weeks.
The KSE-100 Index moved in a range of 816.68 points, showing an intraday low of 42,990.55 points and a high of 43,807.23, which was the previous day’s closing point. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 451.85 points (-1.51 percent) to close at 29,478.4 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index shed 407.45 points (-1.88 percent) to close at 21,253.63 points.
A total of 341 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of them shares of 66 closed up, shares of 259 closed down while shares of 16 companies remained unchanged. Out of 95 traded companies in the KSE-100 Index, 17 closed up and 76 closed down and two remained unchanged.
The overall market volumes increased by 31.93 million to 180.44 million shares. Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index increased by 45.71 million to 92.33 million shares. The number of total trades increased by 31,346 to 89,113, while the value traded increased by Rs3.40 billion to Rs6.39 billion. Overall, market capitalisation decreased by Rs130.72 billion.
Among scrips, WTL topped the volumes with 13.49 million shares, followed by GGL (10.05 million) and KEL (8.83 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included WTL, GGL, KEL, PAELR3 and TELE, which formed around 26 percent of total volumes.
In terms of rupee, UPFL remained the top gainer and witnessed an increase of Rs375.03 (1.74 percent) per share, closing at Rs21,875.03. The runner-up was SFL, the share price of which climbed up by Rs58.74 (7.34 percent) to Rs858.99. BATA remained the top loser in terms of rupee and witnessed a decrease of Rs143 (6.31 percent) per share, closing at Rs2,125, followed by MEHT, the share price of which declined by Rs58.91 (7.1 percent) to close at Rs771.08 per share.
The sectors taking the index towards south were commercial banks (158 points), technology & communication (150 points), oil & gas exploration companies (140 points), cement (113 points) and oil & gas marketing companies (54 points). The most points taken off the index were by SYS (77 points), PPL (73 points), HBL (64 points), TRG (61 points) and OGDC (54 points).
The sectors taking the index towards north were fertilizer (36 points), real estate investment trust (3 points) and insurance (one point). The most points added to the index were by EFERT (36 points), FFC (35 points), BAHL (10 points), MUREB (7 points) and HMB (5 points).
