KSE-100 falls below 46,000-point mark after 0.55% decrease

Following a day’s respite, the Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed selling pressure on Tuesday as concerns over depleting foreign exchange reserves and pressure on the local currency dragged the benchmark KSE-100 index lower.

The session kicked off on a volatile note and the market traded on both sides of the spectrum in the initial minutes. Towards midday, the bourse scaled down from an intra-day high of 111.3 points on account of profit-taking as investors remained concerned over the International Monetary Fund’s $6 billion Extended Fund Facility. From this point on, the market declined steadily to close with a loss.

At close on Tuesday, the KSE-100 ended with a loss of 255.57 points, down 0.55%, to finish at 45,817.67.

“Failing to carry forward the positive momentum from its previous session the Pakistan Stock Exchange ended the day on Tuesday in red,” stated a report from Capital Stake. “Indices traded in red for most part of the day while volumes fell from last close.”

Global equity markets showed a mixed trend. Crude oil prices moved south, with WTI crude oil price falling by 0.85% to $97.69. Brent crude oil price was down by 0.62% to $101.53, the report stated.

Not during April: Miftah rules out any immediate increase in petrol, diesel prices

On the economic front, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail announced that fuel prices in Pakistan would remain unchanged till the end of the ongoing month. The market now expects a hike in the rates of petroleum products in May.

Sectors driving the benchmark KSE-100 index downward included the oil and gas exploration sector (64.64 points), the technology and communication sector (38.68 points) and power generation and distribution (36.02 points).

Volume on the all-share index dropped to 210.2 million from 368.83 million on Monday. The value of shares traded nosedived to Rs6.23 billion, down from Rs9.66 billion recorded in the previous session.

G3 Technologies was the volume leader with 18.85 million shares, followed by Lotte Chemical with 17.92 million shares, and Hum Network with 14.3 million shares.

Shares of 324 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 90 registered an increase, 211 recorded a fall, and 23 remained unchanged.