PSX witnesses bloodbath as index nosedives 1,284 points

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KARACHI
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a bloodbath on Monday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index losing 1,284.38 points (-2.88 percent) to close at 43,266.97 points.
The PSX opened on a sharp negative note, losing around 500 points, and this bearish trend continued throughout the session. During the first 90 minutes trading, the index fell by around 1,500 points, which was also its lowest dip during the day.
The index moved in the red territory as international crude oil prices reached the highest levels since 2008 due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which dented the investors’ confidence. Brent, the international benchmark for two-thirds of the world’s oil, hit $139.13 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the gauge that tracks US crude, jumped to $130.50 in early trading. Brent hit a record high of $147.02 on July 11, 2008 amid the global financial crisis, while WTI soared to $146.90.
The KSE-100 Index moved in a range of 1,500.47 points, showing an intraday low of 43,050.88 points and a high of 44,551.35 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 780.76 points (-2.54 percent) to close at 29,917.45 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index shed 623.68 points (-2.79 percent) to close at 21,693.74 points.
A total of 362 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of them shares of 44 closed up, shares of 296 closed down while shares of 22 companies remained unchanged. Out of 97 traded companies in the KSE-100 Index, 8 closed up and 88 closed down and one remained unchanged.
The overall market volumes increased by 102.08 million to 236.88 million shares. Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index decreased by 2.90 million to 104.84 million shares. The number of total trades increased by 42,959 to 113,986, while the value traded increased by Rs3.48 billion to Rs8.21 billion. Overall, market capitalisation decreased by Rs213.8 billion.
Among scrips, HUMNL topped the volumes with 20.07 million shares, followed by WTL (11.54 million) and FlyingR1 (11.44 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included HUMNL, WTL, FlyingR1, TRG and TELE, which formed over 26 percent of total volumes.
In terms of rupee, RMPL remained the top gainer and witnessed an increase of Rs99 (0.85 percent) per share, closing at Rs11,799. The share price of RMPL climbed up for the 10th straight session. The runner-up was SAPT, the share price of which climbed up by Rs46.98 (5.2 percent) to Rs949.96. SFL remained the top loser in terms of rupee and witnessed a decrease of Rs66.75 (7.5 percent) per share, closing at Rs823.25, followed by PRET, the share price of which declined by Rs54 (7.5 percent) to close at Rs666 per share.
The sectors taking the index towards south were cement with 235 points, commercial banks (222 points), technology & communication (159 points), fertilizer (98 points) and power generation & distribution (91 points). The scrip which took off most of the points from the index was LUCK which stripped the index of 122 points followed by HUBC (79 points), TRG (78 points), SYS (59 points) and HBL (58 points).
The sectors taking the index towards north were real estate investment trust with 5 points, insurance (4 points), and close-end mutual fund and miscellaneous (2 points each). The scrip which added most points to the index was NATF which contributed 12 points followed by AICL (7 points), DCR (5 points), PSEL (3 points) and HGFA (2 points).