KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange on Tuesday opened on strong positive note, however closed in negative zone due to selling pressure as investors opted to book profit on available margins.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index crossed 50,000 psychological level after almost six years to hit 50,017.45 points intraday high however failed to sustain this momentum due to selling pressure that forced the market in red to hit 49,508.42 points intraday low level. The KSE-100 index closed at 49,531.01 points, down 200.34 points or 0.40 percent.
Trading activity also remained low as total daily volumes on ready counter decreased to 368.340 million shares as compared to 467.383 million shares traded on Monday. The daily traded value on ready counter declined to Rs 10.404 billion against previous session’s Rs 14.119 billion.
BRIndex100 lost 26.21 points or 0.52 percent to close at 5,003.51 points with total daily turnover of 324.030 million shares.
BRIndex30 declined by 171.66 points or 0.96 percent to close at 17,624.34 points with total daily trading volumes of 218.115 million shares.
Foreign investors also remained net sellers of shares worth $748,527. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 47 billion to Rs 7.269 trillion. Out of total 347 active scrips, 186 closed in negative and 149 in positive while the value of 12 stocks remained unchanged.
K-Electric was the volume leader with 65.958 million shares however lost Rs 0.04 to close at Rs 3.11 followed by Pak Int. Bulk Terminal that inched up by Rs 0.02 to close at Rs 4.61 with 21.502 million shares. Maple Leaf Cement gained Rs 0.87 to close at Rs 35.58 with 20.668 million shares.
Rafhan Maize and Philip Morris Pak were the top gainers increasing by Rs 190.00 and Rs 28.50 respectively to close at Rs 8390.00 and Rs 609.00 while Bhanero Textile and Pak Hotels were the top losers declining by Rs 37.50 and Rs 36.35 respectively to close at Rs 957.50 and Rs 448.36.
Muhammad Shuja Qureshi at JS Global Capital said that the KSE-100 Index briefly breached the 50,000 level after almost six years, where profit-taking pushed the index down by 200 points to close at 49,531. Cement stocks, particularly CHCC (up 2.8 percent), MLCF (up 2.5 percent) and PIOC (up 4.3 percent) prevented a bigger fall as stocks in other major sectors closed in the red.
The market volumes were lower clocking in at 368 million shares. KEL (down 1.3 percent), PIBTL (up 0.4 percent), MLC (up 2.5 percent), GGL (up 2.5 percent), and AIRLINK (up 6.0 percent) were the volume leaders.
BR Automobile Assembler Index lost 41.07 points or 0.41 percent to close at 9,971.76 points with total turnover of 4.858 million shares.
BR Cement Index increased by 61.75 points or 1.19 percent to close at 5,249.67 points with 47.200 million shares.
BR Commercial Banks Index decreased by 71.01 points or 0.61 percent to close at 11,521.14 points with 15.028 million shares.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index declined by 74.43 points or 0.71 percent to close at 10,348.22 points with 76.237 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index fell by 43.61 points or 0.95 percent to close at 4,544.11 points with 25.930 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index plunged by 52.55 points or 1.43 percent to close at 3,621.61 points with 36.765 million shares.
“After a gap of over 6 years, Pakistan equities crossed 50,000 (a major psychological level) on an intraday basis,” an analyst at Topline Securities said.
The day commenced on a positive note as investors continued their cherry picking at PSX around 50,000 level. However, as expected, once the KSE-100 Index hit 50,000 mark, profit-taking kicked off and compelled the benchmark KSE-100 Index to close the day on a negative note, post consecutive positive 11 sessions and settled at 49,531 level, down 200 points or down 0.40 percent.
Apart from profit taking, another likely reason of aforesaid market action could be the Pak rupee’s depreciation which came after continuous winning streak of 28 sessions (since September 05 interbank closing of Rs 307.10) against the Greenback. The local currency closed the day’s affair at 277.03 (down Rs 0.20 or 0.07 percent.
During the day, Power, Tech, Bank and E&P sectors contributed negatively to the index where HUBC, TRG, UBL, PPL and HBL lost 146 points, cumulatively. On the other hand, LUCK, MEBL and PIOC witnessed some buying interest as they added 44 points collectively.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023