Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) remained under pressure on the third consecutive day as the investors opted to offload their holdings due to political uncertainty and security concerns. The benchmark KSE-100 index declined by 237.95 points and closed at 40,526.81 points on Wednesday.
Trading activity also remained low as the daily trading volumes decreased to 347.527 million shares as compared to 367.891 million shares traded on Tuesday. The market capitalization declined by Rs 63 billion to stand at Rs 8.253 trillion. Out of the total 430 stocks, 262 closed in negative, 151 in positive while the value of 17 scrips remained unchanged.
K-Electric was the volume leader with 59.837 million shares. It closed at Rs 9.20, up one paisa followed by Bank of Punjab that lost Rs 0.38 to close at Rs 17.26 with 40.942 million shares. Dost Steel (R) declined by Rs 0.08 to close at Rs 3.45 with 27.451 million shares.
Wyeth Pak and Bata Pak were the top gainers with Rs 134.97 and Rs 120.53, respectively to close at Rs 2834.55 and Rs 4300.00. Philip Morris Pak and Hinopak Motor were the top losers with Rs 67.59 and Rs 48.74, respectively to close at Rs 1924.00 and Rs 1365.70.
An analyst at Global Securities said the market witnessed a deep dip for the third consecutive day this week, bringing the market down to 40,489 level down 0.68 percent on the back of political pressure. Market was partially driven as a result of disclosure of financial results of various companies of which PIOC and MTL supported the index by 12 points cumulatively on account of delivering above expected results while HUBC dragged the index by 33.08 points owing to lower than anticipated earnings. During mid-day trading, news reports surfaced regarding EFERT (+0.54%) being granted a stay order against the collection of GIDC, allowing the scrip to hit intra-day high of Rs 66.31/share. This decision also allowed FFC to garner investor's attention and hit intra-day high of Rs 108.24/share over possibility of discontinuation of GIDC payments. Later on, however, both stocks lost steam as the market believes that this decision will likely be challenged by the federal government as GIDC comprises a significant portion of the country's tax net. Oil stocks also came under pressure with OGDC, POL and PPL eroding 60 points as international oil prices dipped below $50/bbl. HBL emerged as the day's biggest loser, dropping 48 points likely due to institutional and foreign selling.
Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said stocks closed bearish amid pressure in oil stocks amid plunge in global crude prices. Fertiliser stocks outperformed the index on strong financial results. Political uncertainty, weak economic outlook and major fall in global equities played a catalyst role in the bearish close at PSX.
An analyst at Topline Securities said that range bound activity was observed during the day. However, index towards the end of the session declined by 237 points, amid rising political tension. Crude oil price plunged below $50/bbl, as investors became sceptical regarding Opec members to reach an agreement over production cuts. Consequently, OGDC, POL and PPL declined by 1-2 percent.
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