KARACHI
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) snapped its three-day losing streak on Thursday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining 245.55 points (+0.39 percent) to close at 62,693.56 points.
The market opened on a positive note but soon started extending losses from the previous three sessions and touched its day’s low within the first one-and-an-half hour trading. The index remained almost in the red territory except for the last half an hour session, when bulls entered the market and regained control, resulting in a positive close.
The benchmark index shed 3,682.01 points in the previous three sessions and witnessed its second highest ever day-on-day points decline on Tuesday with a drop of 2,371 points. The long overdue correction can be attributed to over-leveraged positions in the market, coupled with profit-taking by investors after a prolonged rally. The profit-taking was so dominant in the market that it even overshadowed the favorable performance of the country’s current account, which posted a surplus of $9 million in November.
The experts were of the view that correction was expected after the massive bull-run. Moreover, both the year-end and quarter-end are nearing, and the next week will be rollover week, so the market may face jitters in the coming days.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 1,099.12 points, showing an intraday high of 62,850.09 points and an intraday low of 61,750.97 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 201.84 points (+0.48 percent) to close at 41,866.38 points. Similarly, the KMI All Share Islamic Index gained 151.93 points (+0.50 percent) to close at 30,615.54 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index decreased by 135.4 million shares to 527.22 million shares against 662.62 million traded in the previous session. Similarly, the overall market volumes decreased by 374.99 million shares to 812.38 million shares against 1,187.37 million shares traded a session earlier.
Among scrips, KEL topped the volumes with 209.4 million shares, followed by CNERGY (101.56 million) and WTL (59.82 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included KEL, CNERGY, WTL, PTC, and KOSM, which formed over 60 percent of total volumes.
A total of 355 companies traded shares in the stock exchange against 360 in the previous session, out of which shares of 251 closed up, shares of 90 companies closed down while shares of 14 companies remained unchanged. A total of 96 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against 97 in the previous session, out of which share prices of 67 companies closed up and 29 companies closed down.
The number of total trades decreased to 214,647 from 269,761 in previous session, while the value traded decreased by Rs9.35 billion to Rs16.69 against Rs26.04 billion in the previous session.
In terms of rupee, BATA remained the top gainer with an increase of Rs46.8 (+2.84 percent) per share, closing at Rs1,696.8. The runner-up remained SAPT, the share price of which climbed up by Rs46.65 (+3.64 percent) to Rs1,330. UPFL remained the top loser with a decrease of Rs444 (-2.04 percent) per share, closing at Rs21,355, followed by NESTLE, the share price of which fell by Rs194 (-2.4 percent) to close at Rs7,906 per share.
The major sectors taking the index towards north remained refinery (84 points), oil & gas exploration companies (63 points), oil & gas marketing companies (58 points), cement (46 points), textile composite (40 points), miscellaneous (38 points), pharmaceutical (28 points), cables and electrical goods (21 points), glass and ceramics (14 points), and chemical (13 points). The major companies adding points to the index remained PPL (28 points), PSO (22 points), OGDC (21 points), CNERGY (19 points), ATRL (17 points), ILP (14 points), PSEL (13 points), PAEL (12 points), NRL (11 points), and BOP (10 points).
The major sectors taking the index towards south were investment bank/ investment companies/ securities companies (64 points), fertilizer (41 points), power generation & distribution (38points), food & personal care products (14points), synthetic & rayon (12 points) and paper and board (3 points). The major companies depriving the index of points remained DAWH (38 points), MCB (17 points), ENGRO (16 points), MARI and HUBC (13 points each), FFC (11 points), SYS, NESTLE and IBFL (7 points each), and KEL (6 points).
