KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange Monday witnessed a bearish trend and closed in deep red due to heavy selling on investor concerns over the delay in the IMF deal and negativity on the macroeconomic front. The benchmark KSE-100 Index plunged by 680.08 points or 1.65 percent and closed below 41,000 psychological level at 40,621.22 points. The index hit 41,484.33 points intraday high and 40,610.28 points intraday low.

The daily volumes on ready counter increased to 179.780 million shares as compared to 156.023 million shares traded on last Friday while daily traded value on ready counter increased to Rs 5.624 billion against previous session’s Rs 3.746 billion.

BRIndex100 decreased by 78.1 points or 1.92 percent to close at 3,996.41 points with total daily turnover of 154.820 million shares.

BRIndex30 declined by 351.66 points or 2.51 percent to close at 13,655.73 points with total daily trading volumes of 109.397 million shares.

Foreign investors however emerged net buyers of shares worth $1.043 million. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 59 billion to Rs 6.267 trillion. Out of total 320 active scrips, 244 closed in negative and only 54 in positive while the value of 22 stocks remained unchanged.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 27.671 million shares however lost Rs 0.02 to close at Rs 1.12 followed by K-Electric that inched down by Rs 0.06 to close at Rs 1.58 with 11.375 million shares. Cnergyico PK closed at Rs 2.91, down Rs 0.12 with 9.338 million shares.

Colgate Palmolive and Mehmood Textile were the top gainers increasing by Rs 76.72 and Rs 74.33 respectively to close at Rs 1287.05 and Rs 1065.33 while Bhanero Textile and Bata Pak were the top losers declining by Rs 80.00 and Rs 64.00 respectively to close at Rs 995.00 and Rs 1736.00.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the week began with a negative session at the PSX. Following the news of the Chinese loan rollover, the benchmark KSE-100 Index opened in the green. Later in the day, however, the bears made a comeback and pulled the index down, shedding a net 650.84 points at the close due to rumors in the market about the stalled IMF program. Investor involvement was sluggish, with third-tier equities dominating.

Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (down 140.4 points), Technology & Communication (down 100.7 points), Commercial Banks (down 98.2 points), Fertilizer (down 84.6 points) and Power Generation & Distribution (down 64.6 points).

BR Automobile Assembler Index decreased by 113.79 points or 1.44 percent to close at 7,810.43 points with total turnover of 1.023 million shares.

BR Cement Index inched down by 39.85 points or 0.88 percent to close at 4,482.01 points with 8.315 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index lost 100.23 points or 1.2 percent to close at 8,222.30 points with 22.248 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index plunged by 158.03 points or 2.22 percent to close at 6,975.19 points with 17.053 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index declined by 87.03 points or 2.28 percent to close at 3,721.98 points with 22.751 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index fell by 105.67 points or 2.86 percent to close at 3,585.49 points with 34.662 million shares.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said stocks fell across the board amid reports of IMF meeting schedule issued for June 29th without Pakistan bailout tranche on agenda.

He said investors’ concerns for political and economic uncertainty amid stalled IMF bailout program played a catalyst role in bearish close.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023