KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) Wednesday closed lower as investors booked profit due to uncertainty on political and economic front.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index lost 172.59 points or 0.41 percent to settle at 41,833.66 points down from 42,006.25 points. The index hit 42,110.03 points intraday high and 41,818.34 points intraday low level.
Analysts said that below expectation arrival of Current Account Surplus, rumors regarding current IMF program to remain inconclusive and media vibes regarding operation against opposition party shattered investors’ confidence and led to profit taking in market.
BRIndex100 declined by 16.82 points or 0.4 percent to close at 4,226.53 points compared to 4,243.35 points a day earlier. Total volume at BRIndex100 was 111.860 million shares and WorldCall Telecom was the most traded company.
BRIndex30 also decreased by 120.84 points or 0.82 percent to close at 14,538.41 points down from 14,659.25 points. It touched an intraday high of 14,695.63 points and an intraday low of 14,533.33 with total volume of 74.827 million shares. Trading activity was also dull and total daily volumes on ready counter decreased to 125.528 million on Wednesday down from 196.243 million shares on Tuesday. Market capitalization declined by Rs 17.31 billion to Rs 6.245 trillion.
Out of total 319 active scrips, 117 closed in positive and 179 in negative while the value of 23 stocks remained unchanged. WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 18.42 million shares and lost Rs 0.02 to close at Rs 1.13. Fauji Foods Ltd ranked second and closed at Rs 6.60 with 8.46 million shares. Hum Network gained Rs 0.10 to close at Rs 5.79 with 6 million shares.
Nestle Pakistan and Rafhan Maize were the top gainers increasing by Rs 150.01 and Rs 149.99 respectively to close at Rs 5,950.00 and Rs 8,349.99. While Sapphire Fiber and Bhanero Textile were the top losers declining by Rs 86.92 and Rs 78.58 respectively to close at Rs 1,072.08 and Rs 976.00.
Analysts said that Wednesday session on the KSE was rangebound. The market began in the green but swung both ways as political noise flared up as well as recent developments on the IMF program, with the index closing in the negative as investors chose to book profits during the final trading hour.
Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P’s (-90.1pts), Commercial Banks (-35.1pts), Inv Banks/Inv Cos/Securities Cos. (-34.1pts), Technology & Communication (-33.7pts), and Cement (-27.6pts).
Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corp said that stocks closed lower amid slump in rupee and uncertainty over IMF bailout agreement. “Weak global stocks, concerns for surging energy sector circular debt and investor concerns for political uncertainty played a catalyst role in bearish close”, he added.
BR Automobile Assembler Index lost 3.26 points to close at 7,554.00 points with a total turnover of 3,199,228 shares.
BR Cement Index fell 30.18 points to close at 4,285.40 points with a total turnover of 8.925 million shares.
BR Commercial Banks Index decreased by 47.33 points to settle at 8,872.55 points with a total turnover of 8.666 points.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index closed at 7,479.72 points, down by 18.45 points with a total turnover of 6.685 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index declined by 57.03 points to close at 3,821.13 points with a total turnover of 8.929 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 3,851.79 with a net negative change of 32.16 points with a total turnover of 37.183 million shares.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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