KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange on Thursday opened on strong positive note, however profit-taking in various sectors forced the market to close in red zone with low volumes.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index lost 153.37 points or 0.31 percent and closed at 48,611.18 points. The index crossed 49,000 psychological level to hit 49,404.50 points intraday high, however failed to sustain this level due to profit-taking and dropped at 48,541.35 points intraday low.
Trading activity remained low as daily volumes on ready counter decreased to 526.039 million shares as compared to 556.141 million shares traded on Wednesday. The daily traded value on ready counter declined to Rs 19.032 billion against previous session’s Rs 19.989 billion.
BRIndex100 inched down by 28.36 points or 0.57 percent to close at 4,954.96 points with total daily turnover of 474.803 million shares.
BRIndex30 closed at 17,831.31 points, up 12.3 points or 0.07 percent with total daily trading volumes of 325.004 million shares.
Foreign investors also remained net sellers of shares worth $1.415 million. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 49 billion to Rs 7.290 trillion. Out of total 367 active scrips, 216 closed in negative and 129 in positive while the value of 22 stocks remained unchanged.
Cnergyico PK was the volume leader with 33.210 million shares however lost Rs 0.08 to close at Rs 3.67 followed by K-Electric that closed at Rs 1.35, down Rs 0.01 with 25.427 million shares. OGDC gained Rs 0.18 to close at Rs 104.26 with 24.521 million shares.
Rafhan Maize and Sanofi-Aventis were the top gainers increasing by Rs 201.03 and Rs 50.00 respectively to close at Rs 8999.00 and Rs 800.00 while Allawasaya Textile and Nestle Pakistan were the top losers declining by Rs 144.00 and Rs 80.00 respectively to close at Rs 1880.00 and Rs 7070.00.
Muhammad Shuja Qureshi at JS Global Capital said that the KSE-100 Index lost 153 points to close at 48,611. Investors began cashing in profits as the index reached a peak of 49,404 points earlier the day. While selling was witnessed across the board, some key stocks still managed to close with gains. Prominent among the gainers were MTL, LUCK, and HUBC.
The market turnover fell to 526 million shares, where CNERGY (down 2.1 percent), KEL (down 0.4 percent), OGDC (up 0.2 percent), WTL (down 1.5 percent) and HUMNL (up 1.8 percent) were the volume leaders.
BR Automobile Assembler Index surged by 292.53 points or 3.34 percent to close at 9,055.14 points with total turnover of 5.928 million shares.
BR Cement Index gained 32.5 points or 0.63 percent to close at 5,175.21 points with 39.890 million shares.
BR Commercial Banks Index decreased by 74.05 points or 0.65 percent to close at 11,368.00 points with 49.383 million shares.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index increased by 94.17 points or 1.06 percent to close at 9,007.57 points with 39.923 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index lost 34.44 points or 0.75 percent to close at 4,556.73 points with 71.857 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index declined by 77.22 points or 1.86 percent to close at 4,067.24 points with 75.239 million shares.
An analyst at Darson Securities said the stock market took a breather after an impressive consecutive week run as the benchmark KSE-100 Index closed negative, shed 153.37 points to end the session at 48,611.18 levels.
The index spiked as soon as trading began and stocks rallied throughout the day. The market shot up 639.95 points during the session and touched intra-day high of 49,404.50, which is six years high.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023