KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange on Tuesday witnessed a bearish trend and closed on deep red with heavy losses due to across the board selling pressure.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index plunged by 956.42 points or 1.98 percent and closed below 48,000 psychological level at 47,429.83 points. The index hit 48,415.46 points intra-day high and 47,335.32 points intra-day low level.

Trading activity remained low as total daily volumes on ready counter decreased to 336.078 million shares as compared to 381.855 million shares traded on Monday while total daily traded value on ready counter declined to Rs 12.547 billion against previous session’s Rs 14.528 billion.

BRIndex100 decreased by 116.28 points or 2.36 percent to close at 4,801.64 points with total daily turnover of 313.880 million shares.

BRIndex30 declined by 645.31 points or 3.65 percent to close at 17,036.42 points with total daily trading volumes of 232.947 million shares.

Foreign investors however remained net buyers of shares worth $616,164. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 149 billion to Rs 7.108 trillion. Out of total 343 active scrips, 278 closed in negative and only 49 in positive while the value of 16 stocks remained unchanged.

Cnergyico PK was the volume leader with 28.316 million shares however lost Rs 0.33 to close at Rs 3.47 followed by OGDC that declined by Rs 7.72 to close at Rs 97.85 with 27.785 million shares. K-Electric closed at Rs 2.10, down Rs 0.13 with 24.628 million shares.

Khyber Textile and Gatron Industries were the top gainers increasing by Rs 55.00 and Rs 8.81 respectively to close at Rs 949.00 and Rs 228.99 while Sapphire Textile and Nestle Pakistan were the top losers declining by Rs 87.31 and Rs 70.01 respectively to close at Rs 1077.56 and Rs 6999.99.

An analyst at Topline Securities said that the KSE-100 Index declined by 1.98 percent (most in percentage terms after January 17, 2023) to close at 47,430 level. This decline can be attributed to investor`s preference to book gains as current collation government term comes to an end, where investors want to see if the caretaker government will continue with economic reforms that government under took after SBA with IMF.

Further no clarity on circular debt after meeting last week on the issue chaired by FM Ishaq Dar regulatory reforms weighed down on investor sentiment. The stock prices of OGDC, PPL, HBL, PSO, and SYS declined, resulting in a collective impact on the index of minus 401 points.

BR Automobile Assembler Index declined by 245.54 points or 2.72 percent to close at 8,776.97 points with total turnover of 4.565 million shares.

BR Cement Index decreased by 118.6 points or 2.31 percent to close at 5,015.92 points with 23.992 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index fell by 168.9 points or 1.49 percent to close at 11,164.32 points with 23.547 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index lost 117.87 points or 1.32 percent to close at 8,824.49 points with 35.221 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index plunged by 201.97 points or 4.43 percent to close at 4,358.99 points with 55.312 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 3,905.48 points, down 88.84 points or 2.22 percent with 42.479 million shares.

Muhammed Waqar Iqbal at JS Global Capital said that the KSE-100 index experienced downward pressure, primarily due to the absence of a decision regarding cash dividend payments for Exploration & Production (E&P) companies.

Profit-taking was observed across various other sectors as well, leading the key index to end the day in red at 47,430, with decline of 956 points.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023