The benchmark KSE-100 Index close at 43,786.83 points
KARACHI
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) turned bearish on Thursday amid political uncertainty in the country, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding 324.27 points (-0.74 percent) to close at 43,786.83 points.
The PSX opened on a positive note and gained over 230 points during the first 10 minutes of the session. However, later the index started coming downward amid selling pressure and this trend continued throughout the session.
Besides political uncertainty, falling rupee against the US dollar, moderating economic growth to 4 percent by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in its new report and accelerating imported inflation have also smashed investors’ confidence in the market.
The KSE-100 Index moved in a range of 597.84 points, showing an intraday low of 43,751.75 points and a high of 44,349.59. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 158.58 points (-0.53 percent) to close at 29,989.23 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index shed 111.8 points (-0.51 percent) to close at 21,645.74 points.
A total of 323 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of them shares of 106 closed up, shares of 192 closed down while shares of 25 companies remained unchanged. Out of 84 traded companies in the KSE-100 Index, 18 closed up, 61 closed down and five remained unchanged.
The overall market volumes increased by 32.61 million to 141.02 million shares. Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index increased by 22.38 million to 69.39 million shares. The number of total trades increased by 11,535 to 70,174, the value traded increased by Rs0.71 billion to Rs4.98 billion and the overall market capitalisation decreased by Rs39.78 billion.
Among scrips, GGL topped the volumes with 11.14 million shares, followed by PAEL (9.24 million) and KEL (7.7 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included GGL, PAEL, KEL, TELE and GGGL, which formed around 29 percent of total volumes.
In terms of rupee, UPFL remained the top gainer for the second straight day and witnessed an increase of Rs1,000 (+4.08 percent) per share, closing at Rs25,500. The runner-up was SCL, the share price of which climbed up by Rs17.92 (+6.18 percent) to Rs307.9. SAPL remained the top loser in terms of rupee and witnessed a decrease of Rs67.89 (-7.23 percent) per share, closing at Rs871.11, followed by GATI, the share price of which declined by Rs39.37 (-7.5 percent) to close at Rs485.63 per share.
The sectors taking the index towards the south were commercial banks (105 points), cement (55 points), power generation & distribution (33 points), and oil & gas exploration companies and engineering (31 points each). The most points taken off the index were by UBL (53 points), HUBC (32 points), MEBL (22 points), LUCK (21 points) and EPCL (18 points).
The sectors taking the index towards the north were technology & communication (9 points), investment banks/ investment companies/ securities companies (8 points), miscellaneous (3 points), and oil & gas marketing companies and cable & electrical goods (2 points each). The most points added to the index were by SYS (17 points), DAWH (9 points), FATIMA (7 points), and FFC and PSO (4 points each).
