Equities extend losses

KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange closed on a negative note on the second consecutive day as the investors opted to book profit on available margins.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index hit 49,740.98 points intraday high and 49,383.72 points intra-day low before closing at 49,431.48 points, down 99.53 points or 0.20 percent on Wednesday.

Trading activity remained low as daily volumes on ready counter decreased to 332.606 million shares as compared to 368.340 million shares traded on Tuesday. The daily traded value on ready counter declined to Rs 8.824 billion against previous session’s Rs 10.404 billion.

BRIndex100 lost 15.64 points or 0.31 percent to close at 4,987.87 points with total daily turnover of 308.496 million shares.

BRIndex30 declined by 193.58 points or 1.1 percent to close at 17,430.76 points with daily trading volumes of 234.500 million shares.

The market capitalization declined by Rs 27 billion to Rs 7.242 trillion. Out of total 347 active scrips, 185 closed in negative and 141 in positive while the value of 21 stocks remained unchanged.

Pak Refinery was the volume leader with 75.718 million shares and gained Rs 0.72 to close at Rs 16.87 followed by K-Electric that closed at Rs 3.08, down Rs 0.03 with 37.461 million shares. Pak Int. Bulk Terminal inched up by Rs 0.06 to close at Rs 4.67 with 23.634 million shares.

Bhanero Textile and Premium Textile were the top gainers increasing by Rs 36.50 and Rs 26.85 respectively to close at Rs 959.00 and Rs 404.85 while Mehmood Textile and Nestle Pakistan were the top losers declining by Rs 37.50 and Rs 12.41, respectively to close at Rs 462.50 and Rs 7300.00.

“In the Pakistan stock market, there was a session of profit-taking as investors chose to cash in on their gains,” an analyst at Topline Securities said. The trading day concluded at 49,431, reflecting a dip of 99.54 points, equivalent to a 0.20 percent decrease.

Furthermore, the PKR experienced a depreciation of 3.25 rupees against the US dollar in the interbank session, settling at PKR 280.29.

Banks, Auto and IT stocks, including, UBL, MEBL, MCB, MTL and SYS, made a positive contribution by adding plus 92 points. However, HUBC, OGDC, and MLCF collectively lost 88 points.

BR Automobile Assembler Index declined by 121.12 points or 1.21 percent to close at 9,850.64 points with total turnover of 7.666 million shares.

BR Cement Index decreased by 45.95 points or 0.88 percent to close at 5,203.72 points with 18.612 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index gained 25.65 points or 0.22 percent to close at 11,546.79 points with 8.173 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index plunged by 138.15 points or 1.34 percent to close at 10,210.07 points with 43.478 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index fell by 17.25 points or 0.38 percent to close at 4,526.86 points with 20.145 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index inched down by 2.48 points or 0.07 percent to close at 3,619.13 points with 44.466 million shares.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said stocks closed bearish amid slump in global equities and geopolitical uncertainty related to conflict in Middle East.

He said falling Pak rupee and industrial closures on import restrictions and surging industrial power tariff played a catalytic role in bearish close.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023