KARACHI
Profit-taking continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) for the second straight session on Wednesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index losing 99.54 points (-0.20 percent) to close at 49,431.47 points.
The market opened on a slight positive note but took a dip soon. The dip proved short-lived and the indices turned towards the green territory green. The benchmark index later hit the day’s high and remained in the positive during the first half of the session. However, selling pressure took the indices in the red territory again where it stayed till the end of the session. However, good corporate results of some companies eroded some of the losses of the day.
A sharp decline in rupee’s value for the second straight day after making gains for 28 consecutive sessions also acted as a catalyst for profit-taking. The benchmark index briefly crossed the 50,000 points level for the first time since January 2017 a session earlier, which invited profit-taking. Overall, the benchmark index has gained 3,258 points in the last 13 sessions.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 357.26 points, showing an intraday high of 49,740.97 points and an intraday low of 49,383.71 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 57.54 points (-0.17 percent) to close at 33,050.88 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index shed 48.72 points (-0.20 percent) to close at 24,121.99 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index decreased by 64.10 million to 157.19 million shares against 221.29 million shares traded a session earlier. The overall market volumes decreased by 35.73 million shares to 332.61 million shares against 368.34 million shares traded a session earlier.
Among scrips, PRL topped the volumes with 75.72 million shares, followed by KEL (37.46 million) and PIBTL (23.63 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included PRL. KEL, PIBTL, WTL, and CNERGY, which formed over 50 percent of total volumes.
A total of 345 companies traded shares in the stock exchange against 342 a session earlier, out of which shares of 139 closed up, shares of 185 closed down while shares of 21 companies remained unchanged. A total of 92 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against 95 in the previous session, out of which share prices of 30 companies closed up, 61 closed down and one remained unchanged.
The number of total trades decreased by 15,754 to 141,386 from 157,140 a session earlier, while the value traded decreased by Rs1.58 billion to Rs8.82 billion against Rs10.40 billion in the previous session.
In terms of rupee, BHAT remained the top gainer with an increase of Rs36.5 (+3.96 percent) per share, closing at Rs959. The runner-up remained PRET, the share price of which climbed up by Rs26.85 (+7.1 percent) to Rs404.85. MEHT remained the top loser with a decrease of Rs37.5 (-7.5 percent) per share, closing at Rs462.5, followed by NESTLE, the share price of which fell by Rs12.41 (-0.17 percent) to close at Rs7,300 per share.
The sectors taking the index towards south were power generation & distribution (49 points), cement (39 points), oil & gas exploration companies (24 points), textile composite (15 points), and fertilizer (14 points). The major companies depriving the index of points remained HUBC (44 points), OGDC (28 points), MLCF (16 points), BAFL (16 points), and HBL (15 points).
The major sectors taking the index towards north remained commercial banks (27 points), automobile assembler (12 points), technology & communication (11 points), chemical (9 points), and pharmaceuticals (7 points). The major companies adding points to the index remained UBL (33 points), MEBL (18 points), MCB (15 points), MTL (13 points), and SYS (12 points).
