Stocks plummet

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed lower on the first trading day of the week following Brexit fallout. The benchmark KSE-100 index fell sharply by 350 points to close at 37,039 points compared to 37,390 points Friday. Analysts at Topline said that aftershocks of Brexit (Britain''s decision to exit European Union) continued to weigh investor confidence. Resultantly, the benchmark KSE-100 index fell by 0.94 percent. The June-end consideration and upcoming holidays also kept investors on the sidelines, they added.
Following the negative trend, volume also fell to 163.7 million shares on Monday compared to 236.8 million a day earlier. The trading value declined by 49 percent to Rs 7.83 billion down from 15.29 billion. Profit-taking was witnessed in select banking stocks - United Bank (UBL), MCB Bank (MCB) and Habib Bank (HBL), which fell by 2.3-2.9 percent. Collectively, they contributed 160 points to the overall index decline.
Nishat Mills (NML) continued to decline on fears of Brexit impact on local textile companies. It closed at its lower limit. Ahsan Mehanti, Director at Arif Habib, said that stocks fell sharply on investors fear over likely foreign outflows and weak exports as Brexit fallout. Oil stocks battered on falling global crude prices. Textile and cement stocks weakened on falling exports, he added.
Slump in global equities and commodities played a catalytic role in bearish close at PSX, he said. Arhum Ghous, analyst at JS said the KSE 100 index further extended its losses as the index shed around 350 points following the global sell-off post Britain''s decision to leave the European Union. MCB (-2.81 percent), UBL (-2.33 percent) and LUCK (-2.26 percent) were today''s major index movers. OGDC (-1.79 percent), PPL (-0.92 percent) and POL (-0.65 percent) in the E&P sector remained under pressure to close in the red zone, as crude oil prices lost value to close around $45/bbl level (WTI).
KEL (3.09 percent) gained on the back of reports Shanghai Power has decided to go ahead with the acquisition of KEL. Moving forward we expect the market to remain under pressure and advise accumulation on the dips, analyst at JS said. Trading took place in 323 scrips, of which 121 closed positive, 181 negative and share prices of some 21 stocks remained unchanged. K-Electric Ltd, WorldCall Telecom, Nishat Mills Ltd, TRG Pak Ltd and Hum Network were among top 10 leading scrips with trading volume of 55.17 million, 9.7 million, 7.5 million, 6.4 million and 5.4 million, respectively. Bata (Pak) and Nestle Pak were the top gainers with Rs 100.00 and Rs 25.00 to close at Rs 3,750.00 and Rs 7,375.00, respectively. Rafhan Maize and Unilever Foods were the top losers with Rs 408.50 and Rs 139.00 to close at Rs 7,761.00 and Rs 5,3200.00, respectively.