BRIndex100 edges down

Pakistan Stock Exchange Thursday remained under heavy pressure due to selling by local and foreign investors. BRIndex100 lost 4.54 points or 0.12 percent to close at 3,651.27 points. BRIndex100 touched intraday high of 3,699.74 and intraday low of 3,631.95 points. Volumes stood at 70.193 million shares.
BRIndex30 closed at 18,778.23, up 38.74 points or 0.21 percent with a turnover of 48.539 million shares.
The KSE-100 index declined by 147.39 points or 0.42 percent to close below 35,000 level at 34,887.64 points. Trading activity remained low as daily volumes on the ready counter decreased to 78.099 million shares as compared to 113.235 million shares traded Wednesday.
Foreign investors remained net sellers of shares worth $3.6 million. The market capitalization declined by Rs 39 billion to Rs 7.143 trillion. Out of total 304 active scrips, 145 closed in negative, 139 in positive while the value of 20 stocks remained unchanged.
Maple Leaf was the volume leader with 7.229 million shares. It gained Re 0.81 to close at Rs 25.18 followed by Sui Northern Gas increased by Rs 2.79 to close at Rs 71.38 with 4.410 million shares. Island Textile and Bata Pak were the top gainers with Rs 93.75 and Rs 50.00, respectively to close at Rs 1,992.00 and Rs 1,400.00. Nestle Pakistan and Unilever Foods were the top losers with Rs 252.50 and Rs 206.44, respectively to close at Rs 7,212.50 and Rs 6,300.00.
BR Commercial Banks Index declined by 98.23 points or 1.19 percent to close at 8,136.65 points with total turnover of 5.037 million shares.
BR Cement Index increased by 57.14 points or 1.82 percent to close at 3,200.79 points with 16.593 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index lost 2.78 points or 0.07 percent to close at 4,107.02 points with 8.302 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index inched up by 8.84 points or 1.07 percent to close at 837.94 points with 2.200 million shares.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index closed at 4,713.90 points, up 31.85 points or 0.68 percent with 5.099 million shares.
Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said that bearish trend continued amid thin trade on pre budget uncertainty. Cement and banking stocks outperformed on speculations ahead of federal budget announcements and likely tightening of SBP policy rates related to new IMF program. He said weak global crude oil prices and investor fears over likely additional taxes and tough IMF conditions in the federal budget FY19 played a catalyst role in bearish close.