KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange Thursday witnessed a bearish trend and closed in deep red as the investors opted to book profit on available margins.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index plunged by 325.59 points or 0.72 percent to close at 45,082.30 points. Trading activity remained low as daily volumes on ready counter decreased to 345.295 million shares as compared to 432.060 million shares traded on Wednesday.
BRIndex100 decreased by 52.59 points or 1.12 percent to close at 4,629.92 points with total daily turnover of 287.115 million shares.
BRIndex30 declined by 759.13 points or 3.76 percent to close at 19,426.32 points with total daily trading volumes of 238.942 million shares.
Foreign investors however remained net buyers of equities with net inflow of $11.894 million. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 60 billion to Rs 7.728 trillion. Out of total 360 active scrips, 258 closed in negative and only 87 in positive while the value of 15 stocks remained unchanged.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 65.105 million shares however lost Rs 0.10 to close at Rs 2.26 followed by TRG Pak that declined by Rs 9.26 to close at Rs 114.33 with 54.816 million shares.
Nestle Pakistan and Ismail Industries were the top gainers increasing by Rs 37.95 and Rs 24.20 respectively to close at Rs 5550.00 and Rs 450.00 while Unilever Foods and Sapphire Fiber were the top losers declining by Rs 150.00 and Rs 80.25 respectively to close at Rs 19350.00 and Rs 989.75.
An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the market remained under pressure due to the higher trade deficit number and rising number of Covid-19’s new variant Omicron cases in Pakistan. Trade deficit year-on-year widened by a sharp 106.4 per cent to $25.478 billion which was driven largely by a nearly triple increase in imports compared to exports.
Profit-taking was witnessed throughout the day mainly in the tech and cement stocks, which led the market to close in the red zone. Activity continued to remain side-ways as market witnessed hefty volumes in the 3rd tier stocks.
Sectors contributing to the performance include Technology (down 116 points), Cement (down 78 points), OMC (down 27 points), Banks (down 22 points) and Textile (down 21 points).
BR Automobile Assembler Index decreased by 110.15 points or 1.27 percent to close at 8,548.37 points with total turnover of 3.358 million shares.
BR Cement Index declined by 118.51 points or 2.0 percent to close at 5,810.00 points with 9.751 million shares.
BR Commercial Banks Index lost 21.85 points or 0.22 percent to close at 9,789.15 points with 7.047 million shares.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index increased by 121.27 points or 2.13 percent to close at 5,804.96 points with 13.564 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index closed at 3,840.58 points, down 22.14 points or 0.57 percent with 7.022 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index plunged by 156.54 points or 3.58 percent to close at 4,217.94 points with 157.840 million shares.
An analyst at Topline Securities said that the Pakistan equities witnessed profit taking by the investors where the benchmark KSE-100 Index settled at 45,082 level, down 0.72 percent. Market opened on a negative note where initial pressure recorded from TRG as Telegraph reported Ziaullah Khan Chishti offer himself for Election as Directors after quitting over harassment claims, which led the stock to close at its lower limit at Rs 114.33, down 7.49 percent.
Further profit taking witnessed in Cements sector on higher international coal prices where LUCK, DGKC, MLCF, PIOC and CHCC closed lower.
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