KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange on Thursday remained under pressure and closed in deep red due to heavy selling on investor concerns over security situation on border and year-end portfolio adjustment.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index plunged by 1,991.49 points or 1.77 percent and closed at 110,423.32 points. The index hit 112,480.60 points intraday high and 109,858.88 points intraday low.
Trading activity remained low as volumes on ready counter decreased to 628.026 million shares as compared to 880.598 million shares traded on previous session. The daily traded value on the ready counter declined to Rs 33.582 billion against previous session’s Rs 54.455 billion.
BRIndex100 decreased by 202.45 points or 1.67 percent to close at 11,894.03 points with total daily turnover of 549.851 million shares.
BRIndex30 declined by 860.2 points or 2.28 percent to close at 36,854.77 points with trading volumes of 383.905 million shares.
Foreign investors however remained net buyers of shares worth $127,814. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 237 billion to stand at Rs 14.014 trillion. Out of total 450 active scrips, 284 closed in negative and 113 in positive while the value of 53 stocks remained unchanged.
Fauji Foods was the volume leader with 93.341 million shares and gained Rs 1.44 to close at Rs 16.39 followed by WorldCall Telecom that lost Rs 0.06 to close at Rs 1.72 with 49.879 million shares. TRG Pak increased by Rs 6.33 to close at Rs 70.45 with 46.907 million shares.
Nestle Pakistan and Mitchells Fruit Farms were the top gainers increasing by Rs 198.81 and Rs 17.44 respectively to close at Rs 7,430.81 and Rs 266.05 while Unilever Pakistan Foods and Rafhan Maize Products Company were the top losers declining by Rs 232.60 and Rs 198.10 respectively to close at Rs 20,767.41 and Rs 9001.90.
An analyst at Topline Securities said that the market has been influenced by increased leverage and the expiry of December contracts. Furthermore, the ongoing security concerns at the borders are affecting investor sentiment.
The primary drivers of the downward movement were FFC, OGDC, PPL, MARI, and LUCK, which collectively accounted for an alarming minus 996 points of the index’s overall decline.
BR Automobile Assembler Index fell by 187.26 points or 0.9 percent to close at 20,586.05 points with total turnover of 9.088 million shares.
BR Cement Index plunged by 481.89 points or 4.39 percent to close at 10,504.80 points with 36.550 million shares.
BR Commercial Banks Index gained 4.87 points or 0.02 percent to close at 27,924.29 points with 60.932 million shares.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index decreased by 347.97 points or 1.89 percent to close at 18,091.84 points with 32.685 million share.
BR Oil and Gas Index declined by 435.44 points or 3.38 percent to close at 12,437.74 points with 71.100 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index lost 60.76 points or 1.08 percent to close at 5,588.55 points with 129.160 million shares.
Muhammad Hasan Athar at JS Global Capital said the decline was driven by rising leverage, year-end portfolio adjustments and security concerns at the borders.
Despite the bearish sentiment, the market’s trailing earnings yields suggest potential for above-average long-term returns.
FFL, WTL, TRG, BOP and HASCOL were the top trading volume leaders.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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