KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange Wednesday nosedived due to panic selling on investors’ concerns on global equity selloff and slump in crude oil prices.

BRIndex100 decreased by 121.03 points or 2.55 percent to close at 4,617.98 points. BRIndex100 hit intraday high of 4,746.20 points and intraday low of 4,578.06 points. Volumes stood at 433.606 million shares.

BRIndex30 declined by 851.31 points or 3.72 percent to close at 22,063.47 points with a turnover of 293.625 million shares.

The KSE-100 Index plunged by 908.19 points or 2.01 percent and closed below 45,000 psychological level at 44,366.74 points. Daily trading volumes however increased to 468.761 million shares as compared to 364.860 million shares traded Tuesday.

The foreign investors also remained net sellers of equities worth $228,230. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 127 billion to Rs 7.701 trillion. Out of total 560 active scrips, 489 closed in negative and only 60 in positive while the value of 11 stocks remained unchanged.

Telecard Limited was the volume leader with 52.426 million shares however lost Rs 0.05 to close at Rs 17.33 followed by WorldCall Telecom that closed at Rs 2.71, down Rs 0.20 with 51.190 million shares. Bata Pak and Bhanero Textile were the top gainers increasing by Rs 82.11 and Rs 77.86 respectively to close at Rs 1663.57 and Rs 1187.86 while Wyeth Pak and Sanofi-Aventis were the top losers declining by Rs 62.50 and Rs 58.00 respectively to close at Rs 1460.50 and Rs 718.00.

BR Automobile Assembler Index plunged by 182.34 points or 2.08 percent to close at 8,584.47 points with total turnover of 3.128 million shares.

BR Cement Index declined by 155.02 points or 2.62 percent to close at 5,751.15 points with 20.829 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index decreased by 157.14 points or 1.68 percent to close at 9,201.62 points with 18.492 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index lost 70.00 points or 1.27 percent to close at 5,430.20 points with 6.620 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index closed at 3,661.03 points, down 54.72 points or 1.47 percent with 17.176 million shares. BR Tech. & Comm. Index fell by 179.25 points or 3.64 percent to close at 4,746.70 points with 158.896 million shares.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said that stocks fell across the board on global equity selloff and slump in global crude oil prices.

He said foreign outflows and concerns ongoing economic uncertainty amid falling rupee, over leveraging and concerns for surging government bond yields and speculations over impact of reports on US senate bill probe over Taliban support played a catalyst role in bearish close.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021