KARACHI
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued its downward movement for the third straight session on Thursday as investors opted for profit-booking, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index going down by 43.20 points (0.06 percent) to close at 70,290.11 points.
The market opened on a positive note and hit the day’s high during the first one-and-a-half-hour. This led to profit-taking which continued for the most part of the session. The market at one stage was down by 550 points. However, the things reversed in the last 40 minutes trading and the indices managed to erode most of the day’s loss.
The KSE-100 has been on a winning run for the past few weeks, hitting record highs as investors count on a monetary easing cycle amid lower inflation figures, higher dollar inflows, and a general improved sentiment on Pakistan’s economy. Moreover, the market is getting support on hopes for a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal. Pakistan’s economic team led by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb is in Washington and holding talks with the IMF for a new bailout programme.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 862.32 points, showing an intraday high of 70,645.29 points and an intraday low of 69,783.31 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 25.14 points (0.05 percent) to close at 46,207.85 points. Similarly, the KMI All Share Islamic Index shed 28.24 points (0.09 percent) to close at 32,723.86 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index remained 237.69 million, while the overall market volumes were recorded at 440.31 million shares. Among scrips, CNERGY topped the volumes with 33.24 million shares, followed by KEL (29.88 million) and PRL (28.45 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included CNERGY, KEL, PRL, PTC, and WTL, which formed over 31 percent of total volumes.
A total of 357 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of which shares of 165 closed up, shares of 173 companies closed down while shares of 19 companies remained unchanged. A total of 99 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index, out of which share prices of 48 companies closed up, 49 companies closed down and two remained unchanged. The number of total trades remained 210,870, while the value traded remained Rs24.36 billion.
In terms of rupee, RMPL remained the top gainer with an increase of Rs81.1 (+0.98 percent) per share, closing at Rs8,380.1. The runner-up remained HCL, the share price of which climbed up by Rs52 (+7.47 percent) to Rs748. NESTLE remained the top loser with a decrease of Rs52.5 (-0.69 percent) per share, closing at Rs7,547.5, followed by HPL, the share price of which fell by Rs50 (-3.7 percent) to close at Rs1,300 per share.
The major sectors taking the index towards south remained commercial banks (142 points), cement (31 points), technology and communication (27 points), power and distribution companies (22 points), automobile parts and accessories (11 points), chemical (9 points), pharmaceutical (5 points), and engineering (4 points).
Major companies depriving the index of points remained MEBL (142 points), HUBC and LUCK (34 points each), BAHL (29 points), HBL (20 points), PTC (18 points), THALL (11 points), MARI and SEARL (9 points each), and SYS (7 points).
The major sectors taking the index towards north remained fertilizer (157 points), refinery (22 points), investment bank/ investment companies/ securities companies (17 points), miscellaneous (15 points), oil & gas marketing companies (11 points), and insurance (4 points).
Major companies adding points to the index remained EFERT (120 points each), MCB (46 points), Fatima (19 points), DAWH (16 points), BAFL (15 points), NRL (14 points), ATRL (12 points), PSEL and PSO (11 points each), and FFC (10 points).
