Benchmark KSE-100 index sheds 120.39 points to settle at 47,672.68
KARACHI
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) turned bearish on Friday over Covid-19 concerns, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding 120.39 points (-0.25 percent) to close at 47,672.68 points.
The market opened on a positive note but switched to the red zone soon and remained under selling pressure throughout the session. The KSE-100 Index traded in a range of 323.7 points, showing an intraday high of 47,930.5 points and a low of 47,606.8 points.
Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 49.37 points (-0.15 percent) to close at 32,578.47 points, while All Share Islamic Index shed 78.95 points (-0.34 percent) to close at 23,342.68 points.
A total of 400 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of them shares of 189 closed up, shares of 191 closed down while shares of 20 companies remained unchanged.
The overall market volumes increased by 136.08 million to 450.24 million shares. The number of total trades increased by 31,199 to 142,926, and value traded increased by Rs2.47 billion to Rs13.56 billion. Likewise, the market capitalisation decreased by Rs15.26 billion.
Among scrips, WTL topped the volumes with 127.89 million shares, followed by TELE (45.08 million) and TPL (17.42 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include WTL, TELE, TPL, ASC, and BYCO. They formed 49 percent of total volumes.
Sector wise, the index was let down by oil & gas exploration companies with 73 points, cement with 55 points, commercial banks with 37 points, power generation & distribution with 19 points and pharmaceuticals with 16 points. The most points taken off the index were by PPL which stripped the index of 36 points followed by UBL with 25 points, MEBL with 25 points, OGDC with 25 points and HUBC with 17 points.
The sectors propping up the index were fertilizer with 58 points, technology & communication with 25 points, textile composite with 15 points, chemical with 14 points and tobacco with 9 points. The most points added to the index were by ENGRO which contributed 36 points followed by MCB with 24 points, EFERT with 24 points, SYS with 13 points and TRG with 13 points.
Analysts at Topline Research said that the index opened the day in the positive territory. Initially it reached an intra-day high of 47,930 points. But it succumbed to selling pressure for the rest of the day. It closed near its intra-day low of 47,606 points.
The start of the futures roll over week, with an outstanding open position of Rs28.07 billion, coupled with concerns of a ballooning current account deficit kept the market gains in check, they said
They said that PPL, MEBL, UBL, OGDC, & LUCK dragged the index lower by a cumulative 126 points while MCB, ENGRO and EFERT added 102 points to the KSE-100 Index.
A closing note by Aba Ali Habib Securities said that a major reason for the investor’s negative sentiments was the increasing number of new virus cases. The delta variant is spreading through the country rapidly due to which several restrictions have been placed that are becoming a hindrance for economic activities. Dull trading activity was also attributed to the upcoming monetary policy meeting scheduled for tomorrow (27th Jul), where the rate setters are expected to leave the interest rate unchanged at 7% amid rising virus cases, it added. TLTP
