KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange on Tuesday witnessed bloodbath session and closed in deep red with heavy losses due to panic selling on investor concerns over prevailing economic instability and political uncertainty in the country.

The benchmark KSE-100 index plunged by 1378.54 points or 3.47 percent and closed below 39,000 psychological level at 38,342.21 points. During the session, the index hit 39,942.51 points intra-day high and 38,288.59 points intra-day low level. Total daily trading volumes on ready counter increased to 205.906 million shares as compared to 105.542 million shares traded on Monday while total daily traded value on ready counter increased to Rs 6.710 billion against previous session’s Rs 3.203 billion.

BRIndex100 fell by 156.94 points or 4.01 percent to close at 3,757.37 points with total daily turnover of 177.557 million shares.

BRIndex30 declined by 711.43 points or 5.18 percent to close at 13,011.44 points with total daily trading volumes of 132.845 million shares.

The foreign investors however remained net buyers of shares worth $1.229. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 199 billion to Rs 6.134 trillion. Out of total 340 active scrips, 281 closed in negative and only 34 in positive while the value of 25 stocks remained unchanged.

K-Electric was the volume leader with 29.912 million shares however lost Re 0.07 to close at Rs 2.07 followed by WorldCall Telecom that inched down by Re 0.04 to close at Rs 1.10 with 14.479 million shares. SNGP declined by Rs 2.04 to close at Rs 35.33 with 9.689 million shares.

Nestle Pakistan and Pak Services were the top gainers increasing by Rs 196.00 and Rs 104.00 respectively to close at Rs 5595.00 and Rs 2149.00 while Bhanero Textile and Pak Tobacco were the top losers declining by Rs 76.80 and Rs 69.00 respectively to close at Rs 948.20 and Rs 851.00.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the PSX witnessed a bloodbath session. The benchmark KSE-100 index opened in the green zone, but prevailing economic instability and political uncertainty plunged the index down to an intraday low of minus 1,432.94 points and concluded in the red zone. Whispers of delay in the IMF programme along with continuous political upheaval caused investors to lose confidence as they squared up their positions. Volumes, on the other hand, remained healthy across the board.

Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (down 240.40 points), Technology & Communication (down 222.8 points), Commercial Banks (down 199.0 points), Cement (down 164.9 points), and Fertilizer (down 138.1 points).

BR Automobile Assembler Index decreased by 259.25 points or 3.5 percent to close at 7,143.16 points with total turnover of 2.275 million shares.

BR Cement Index plunged by 210.12 points or 5.74 percent to close at 3,450.82 points with 16.194 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index lost 192.11 points or 2.49 percent to close at 7,518.65 points with 15.127 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index fell by 199.06 points or 3.19 percent to close at 6,048.23 points with 38.253 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index declined by 194.96 points or 4.98 percent to close at 3,718.51 points with 36.625 million shares.

BR Tech & Comm Index closed at 3,884.21 points, down 262.03 points or 6.32 percent with 30.683 million shares.

Mohammed Waqar Iqbal at JS Global Capital said that the local bourse witnessed a bloodbath as it closed at 38,342, losing 1,379 points. Volumes stood at 206 million shares where KEL (down 8.8 percent), WTL (down 3.5 percent), SNGP (down 5.5 percent), PPL (down 6.6 percent) and CNERGY (down 5.6 percent) were the major contributors.

Selling pressure was mainly observed due to uncertainty over the political scenario.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023