KARACHI
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) edged lower on Monday, with the KSE-100 Index losing 27.47 points (-0.06 percent) to close at 46,393.67 points.
The market opened on a positive note and stayed in the green territory for the first two hours of the session. However, the market failed to sustain the momentum and turned to profit-taking activity. Investors remained cautious, eagerly awaiting major market developments. The last-hour buying eroded most of the losses of the day. The rupee extended gains against the US dollar in the interbank and open markets, but the market remained somewhat unaffected, which indicated a lack of confidence among investors in the market.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 284.38 points, showing an intraday high of 46,590.26 points and an intraday low of 46,305.88 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 79.82 points (+0.26 percent) to close at 31,082.20 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index gained 36.46 points (+0.16 percent) to close at 22,638.21 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index remained 89.59 million shares. The overall market volumes increased by 22.78 million shares to 195.67 million shares against 172.89 million shares traded a session earlier.
Among scrips, PIAA topped the volumes with 29.65 million shares, followed by PAEL (20.64 million), and WTL (8.99 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included PIAA, PAEL, WTL, UNITY, and NCPL, which formed over 36 percent of total volumes.
A total of 323 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of which shares of 165 closed up, shares of 134 closed down while shares of 24 companies remained unchanged. A total of 97 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index, out of which share price of 49 companies closed up, 44 closed down and four remained unchanged.
The number of total trades remained 99,561, while the value traded decreased by Rs0.74 billion to Rs5.53 billion as compared to Rs6.27 billion in the previous session.
In terms of rupee, PSEL remained the top gainer with an increase of Rs25 (+3.45 percent) per share, closing at Rs750. The runner-up remained MEHT, the share price of which climbed up by Rs24.23 (+4.91 percent) to Rs518. RMPL remained the top loser with a decrease of Rs177.33 (-2.2 percent) per share, closing at Rs7,866.67, followed by JDWS, the share price of which fell by Rs20 (-5.71 percent) to close at Rs330 per share.
The sectors taking the index towards south were automobile assembler (48 points), commercial banks (37 points), fertilizer (26 points), investment banks/ investment companies/ securities companies (19 points), and technology & communication (7 points). The major companies depriving the index of points remained MTL (45 points), HBL (35 points), SYS (19 points), DAWH (19 points), and UBL (14 points).
The major sectors taking the index towards north remained textile composite (27 points), cement (24 points), oil & gas exploration companies (14 points), miscellaneous (12 points), and property (10 points). The major companies adding points to the index remained ILP (25 points), LUCK (17 points), PSEL (14 points), OGDC (12 points), and TRG (10 points).
