KARACHI: Despite foreign buying, Pakistan Stock Exchange on Wednesday closed in deep red with heavy losses due to selling pressure as the local investors opted to offload their holdings on available margins.
The bench KSE-100 Index plunged by 1,598.82 points or 1.39 percent and closed at 113,443.43 points. The index hit 115,256.16 points intraday high and 113,359.38 points intraday low.
The daily trading volumes on ready counter declined to 743.632 million shares as compared to 767.270 million shares traded on Tuesday. The daily traded value on the ready counter increased to Rs 35.245 billion against previous session’s Rs 31.825 billion.
BRIndex100 decreased by 135.43 points or 1.12 percent to close at 11,973.94 points with total daily turnover of 678.381 million shares.
BRIndex30 declined by 451.36 points or 1.23 percent to close at 36,146.53 points with total daily trading volumes of 464.896 million shares.
Foreign investors however remained net buyers of shares worth $4.852 million. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 214 billion to stand at Rs 14.001 trillion. Out of total 454 active scrips, 307 closed in negative and only 93 in positive while the value of 54 stocks remained unchanged.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 100.218 million shares however lost Rs 0.07 to close at Rs 1.70 followed by Cnergyico PK that gained Rs 0.07 to close at Rs 7.36 with 96.976 million shares. Fauji Cement increased by Rs 2.58 to close at Rs 38.58 with 83.552 million shares.
Unilever Pakistan Foods and Hoechst Pakistan were the top gainers increasing by Rs 349.99 and Rs 183.27 respectively to close at Rs 21,900.00 and Rs 3,291.79 while Ismail Industries and Mari Energies were the top losers declining by Rs 107.96 and Rs 64.55 respectively to close at Rs 1,857.50 and Rs 594.98.
An analyst at Topline Securities said that the bears dominated the trading session as the KSE-100 Index experienced a sharp decline. After reaching an intraday high of plus 213 points the index plunged to an intraday low of minus 1,682 points.
The downtrend was primarily attributed to consistent selling pressure from local banks, as reflected in NCCPL data. This prolonged selling dampened market sentiment, leading to a bearish tone. Investors maintained a cautious stance, which further intensified the negative momentum.
Key stocks driving the market’s decline included MARI, ENGROH, OGDC, PPL, and HUBC, collectively contributing to a loss of 936 points.
BR Automobile Assembler Index plunged by 487.02 points or 2.24 percent to close at 21,235.02 points with total turnover of 19.411 million shares.
BR Cement Index increased by 138.68 points or 1.28 percent to close at 11,004.36 points with 147.777 million shares.
BR Commercial Banks Index decreased by 262.82 points or 0.87 percent to close at 29,974.49 points with 62.259 million shares.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index eroded 305.75 points or 1.64 percent to close at 18,380.46 points with 20.141 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index declined by 282.38 points or 2.33 percent to close at 11,819.15 points with 33.073 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index lost 27.11 points or 0.5 percent to close at 5,341.78 points with 119.551 million shares.
Ali Najib at Insight Securities said that the day begun on an optimistic note as the benchmark index made an intra-day high at 115,256 (plus 214 points). However, at the high of the day, bears started to call the shots which compelled the momentum to bow down to the bears.
Again institutional driven profit-taking cum selling led the bleeding as previous day’s evening data confirmed market vibes where banks and funds took the lead in this regard. There were noise regarding some funds may receive redemptions during the session. This is in addition to banks’ selling due to restructuring/reallocation ahead of MPC Meeting on the coming Monday.
During the trading hours, Energy sectors’ (including E&P & Power) stocks witnessed major selling headwinds as MARI, HUBC, OGDC and PPL lost 743 points, cumulatively. In addition, ENGROH also observed some profit taking by contributing 194 points negatively to the KSE-100 Index.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Comments