Selling pressure sets in on PSX: BRIndex100 slips

Pakistan Stock Exchange Wednesday remained under heavy selling pressure and closed on a negative note due to profit-taking, mainly by local investors.

BRIndex100 lost 25.24 points or 0.58 percent to close at 4,339.95 points. BRIndex100 touched intraday high of 4,379.47 and intraday low of 4,314.72 points. Volumes stood at 235.359 million shares.

BRIndex30 decreased by 265.00 points or 1.15 percent to close at 22,679.10 points with a turnover of 161.521 million shares.

The KSE-100 Index declined by 164.95 points or 0.39 percent to close at 41,603.71 points. Trading activity also remained low as daily volumes on the ready counter decreased to 276.197 million shares as compared to 412.285 million shares traded Tuesday.

The market capitalization declined by Rs 78 billion to Rs 7.959 trillion. Out of total 366 active scrips, 220 closed in negative, 120 in positive while the value of 26 stocks remained unchanged.

Bank of Punjab was the volume leader with 15.979 million shares. It gained Re 0.30 to close at Rs 12.09 followed by Unity Foods that lost Re 0.39 to close at Rs 15.15 with 14.269 million shares.

Indus Dyeing and Indus Motor Co were the top gainers with Rs 22.50 and Rs 20.43, respectively to close at Rs 564.00 and Rs 1,189.88. Nestle Pakistan and Philip Morris Pak were the top losers with Rs 340.00 and Rs 82.02, respectively to close at Rs 7,860.00 and Rs 2,377.98.

BR Automobile Assembler Index decreased by 30.81 points or 0.48 percent to close at 6,353.71 points with total turnover of 1.633 million shares.

BR Cement Index lost 15.82 points or 0.43 percent to close at 3,672.92 points with 32.315 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index gained 23.95 points or 0.25 percent to close at 9,764.78 points with 47.056 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index increased by 44.48 points or 0.82 percent to close at 5,484.04 points with 21.047 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index declined by 98.71 points or 2.0 percent to close at 4,836.77 points with 31.496 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 996.87 points, down 10.83 points or 1.07 percent with 18.835 million shares.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the market took a bearish tone with the ongoing political uncertainty that caused investors to book profits. E&P stocks, particularly, bore significant selling pressure and traded in the red zone. During the session, index oscillated between plus 152 points and minus 379 points and closed the session negative 165 points. Oil & Gas chain had the most impact on index.

Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (down 136 points), O&GMCs (down 31 points), Tobacco (down 18 points), Inv Banks (up 51 points), Power (up 29 points) and Banks (up 25 points).

Stocks that contributed positively include DAWH (up 55 points), HUBC (up 42 points), MEBL (up 15 points), SHFA (up 9 points) and UBL (up 9 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include OGDC (down 66 points), PPL (down 55 points), NESTLE (down 17 points), BAHL (down 15 points) and LUCK (down 15 points).