KSE-100 drops 0.82% owing to budget pessimism

Pessimism gripped the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday and the KSE-100 Index fell 0.82% as anticipation of adverse measures in federal budget 2023-24 dented investor sentiment.

Market participants resorted to booking profits on the back of market rumour of imposition of fresh taxes in upcoming budget.

The KSE-100 index closed the trading session at 41,330.56, a decrease of 341.09 points or 0.82%.

Rally continues at PSX, KSE-100 gains 0.8%

After a mixed open, the KSE-100 Index fell steadily throughout the session. All index-heavy sectors including automobile, cement, banking, oil and fertiliser closed in the red.

A report from Arif Habib Limited stated that a negative session was observed at the PSX.

“The benchmark KSE-100 index began the day in green, but bulls lost control as the bears triumphed at the end of the day,” it said. “The KSE-100 hit an intraday low of 41,265 (-406.62 points) following some market chatter with regard to new tax measures in the upcoming budget as investors decided to book profits.”

Investor participation was marginally lower while the cement sector remained in the limelight, the report said.

A report from Capital Stake underlined that bears of PSX overthrew the bulls on Wednesday.

“Indices traded in both directions while volumes decreased from previous close,” it said.

Sectors taking points away from the benchmark KSE-100 index included technology and communication (89.77 points), oil and gas exploration (64.19 points) and cement (61.75 points).

Volume on the all-share index fell to 158.1 million from 197.7 million on Tuesday, while the value of shares traded contracted to Rs6.2 billion from Rs6.4 billion recorded in the previous session.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 20.7 million shares followed by Maple Leaf Cement with 8.7 million shares and Fauji Cement with 6.5 million shares.

Shares of 332 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 87 registered an increase, 224 recorded a fall and 21 remained unchanged.