Bulls take a breather

A bearish trend was witnessed on Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) Monday due to rising political uncertainty in the country. The benchmark KSE-100 index lost 181.59 points to close at 41,282.72 points, analysts said. Trading activity also remained low and the daily trading volumes stood at 378.691 million shares as compared to 407.605 million shares traded on the last trading session.
The market capitalisation decreased by Rs 30 billion to Rs 8.423 trillion. Of the total 454 scrips traded today, 276 closed in negative, 162 in positive while the value of 16 stocks remained unchanged. Bank of Punjab was the volume leader with 49.095 million shares losing Rs 0.97 to close at Rs 16.01 followed by TPL Trakker that increased by Rs 0.99 to close at Rs 16.48 with 20.385 million shares. TRG Pak declined by Rs 2.15 to close at Rs 44.98 with 17.425 million shares.
Rafhan Maize and Philip Morris were the top gainers with Rs 198.00 and Rs 86.75, respectively to close at Rs 7,998.00 and Rs 1,867.09. Bata Pak and Hinopak Motor were the top losers with Rs 101.00 and Rs 78.12, respectively to close at Rs 4,200.00 and Rs 1,529.88.
Nabeel Haroon at JS Global Capital said the market opened on a positive note but came under selling pressure during the later hours as rising political tensions started to suppress the bulls. The index ultimately lost 182 points. ATHL gained on the back of news that motorcycle assembler is planning to increase its product line with an investment of around $150 million. However, E&P sector lost value to close in the red zone, as crude prices declined post release of US oil rigs and global production data.
An analyst at Global Securities said the market displayed a volatile session on back to political uncertainty. The market remained mostly positive during the first half; however, it succumbed to selling pressure in the later half. The cement sector experienced a downfall owing to slash in the federal budget of Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) from Rs 800 billion to Rs 620 billion, after concerns were raised from IMF regarding the budget deficit. Overall the market displayed bearish sentiment, not being able to generate enough volumes throughout the day.