Pessimism prevailed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday and the KSE-100 index closed in the red for the fifth consecutive session as investor sentiment took a hit due to persistent depreciation of rupee against the US dollar.
Despite the receipt of $1.2 billion tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and rollover of $3 billion deposit from Saudi Arabia, the local currency closed near its all-time low on Tuesday and painted a gloomy picture of the economy.
As a result, the KSE-100 Index finished with a drop of 299.68 points or 0.72% to close at 41,220.91.
KSE-100 loses 0.38%, closes in red for fourth successive session
Index heavyweights automobile, cement, chemical, banks and oil sectors closed in red.
Following a brief open in the positive zone, the KSE-100 Index wiped off gains in early hours and remained range-bound till noon. A fresh wave of profit-booking dragged it lower in second half of the session, however, a buying spree towards the end of the session erased some of the losses.
A report from Capital Stake said that bears took charge of the PSX once again on Tuesday.
“Indices traded in red for most part of the day, while volumes appreciated from last close,” it said.
A report from Topline Securities stated that Pakistan equities closed negative where benchmark KSE-100 Index settled at 41,256 level (down 0.64%).
“After a slight positive opening, profit taking witnessed where market make an intraday low of 441 points over economic and political conditions,” it said.
On economic front, rupee fell Re1 or 0.42% against the US Dollar on day-on-day basis to close at Rs238.9.
Sectors driving the benchmark KSE-100 index south included oil and gas exploration (128.42 points), technology and communication (60.19 points) and power generation and distribution (24.63 points).
Volume on the all-share index rose to 156.6 million from 148.2 million on Monday. On the other hand, the value of shares traded fell to Rs5.7 billion from Rs7.5 billion recorded in the previous session.
K-Electric was the volume leader with 18.4 million shares, followed by TPL Properties with 14.4 million shares and TRG Pakistan with 14.36 million shares.
Shares of 322 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 95 registered an increase, 204 recorded a fall, and 23 remained unchanged.