KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange Tuesday remained under severe selling pressure and closed in deep red with heavy losses due to investor concerns over geopolitical situation and mounting oil prices in the international market. The market opened on a negative note and remained in red throughout the session; however, slight recovery was witnessed in last hours that minimized intraday losses.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index plunged by 350.67 points or 0.77 percent and closed at 45,012.18 points. The KSE-100 Index hit 44,697.89 points intraday low level (down 664 points).
Trading activity however improved as total daily volumes on ready counter increased to 227.171 million shares as compared to 137.659 million shares traded on Monday while daily traded value increased to Rs 7.625 billion against previous day’s Rs 3.612 billion.
BRIndex100 decreased by 56.59 points or 1.22 percent to close at 4,567.19 points with total daily turnover of 201.978 million shares.
BRIndex30 declined by 700.55 points or 4.0 percent to 16,800.44 points with total daily trading volumes of 143.057 million shares.
Foreign investors also remained net sellers of shares worth $726,858. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 51 billion to Rs 7.693 trillion. Out of total 341 active scrips, 252 closed in negative and only 75 in positive while the value of 14 stocks remained unchanged.
WorldCall Telecom was volume leader with 23.687 million shares however lost Rs 0.05 to close at Rs 1.80 followed by Bank of Punjab that closed at Rs 7.95, down Rs 0.20 with 14.411 million shares. Telecard Limited declined by Rs 1.08 to close at Rs 14.75 with 12.900 million shares.
Rafhan Maize and Mari Petroleum were the top gainers increasing by Rs 336.47 and Rs 28.82 respectively to close at Rs 10,199.00 and Rs 1757.30 while Pak Tobacco and Sanofi-Aventis were the top losers declining by Rs 32.24 and Rs 26.49 respectively to close at Rs 1008.01 and Rs 838.51.
An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the market remained under pressure due to mounting international oil prices.
New York’s West Texas Intermediate crude contract rose more than three percent on Tuesday as Russian President Vladimir Putin deployed troops to separatist areas of Ukraine.
Selling was witnessed throughout the day mainly in the Tech and Cement stocks, which led the market to stay in the red zone.
In the last trading hour, value hunting was observed which led to recovery in the market. Activity continued to remain side-ways as market witnessed hefty volumes in the 3rd tier stocks.
Sectors contributing to the performance include technology (down 124.2 points), Cement (down 54.1 points), Fertilizer (down 40.5 points), Power (down 38.3 points) and OMC’S (down 20.7 points).
BR Automobile Assembler Index decreased by 73.07 points or 0.81 percent to close at 9,083.90 points with total turnover of 1.113 million shares.
BR Cement Index declined by 78.29 points or 1.4 percent to close at 5,499.59 points with 11.938 million shares.
BR Commercial Banks Index gained 4.2 points or 0.04 percent to close at 10,199.89 points with 27.696 million shares.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index declined by 105.96 points or 1.77 percent to close at 5,863.90 points with 13.620 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index closed at 3,952.43 points, down 12.41 points or 0.31 percent with 11.828 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index plunged by 148.58 points or 4.1 percent to close at 3,474.78 points with 64.351 million shares.
An analyst at Topline Securities said that Pakistan equities closed red where the benchmark KSE-100 Index settled at 45,012 level, down 0.77 percent.
Rising geopolitical tension where Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine which led the market to open on a negative note and make an intraday low of 664 points however market witnessed some recovery in last hour. Major negativity witnessed in Technology stocks where TRG and SYS closed lower; denting 109 points from KSE-100 Index.
An analyst at Darson Securities said that the local bourse witnessed heavy selling pressure.
Politically uncertainty, gloomy trend in global markets and Geopolitical turmoil due to prevailing tensions between Russia and Ukraine, redemption at local mutual funds remained major factors in dump and run approach.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022