KARACHI: Despite foreign buying, Pakistan Stock Exchange on Friday remained under pressure and closed on a negative note due to selling in various sectors. Investors opted to book profit on available margins.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index declined by 333.87 points or 0.58 percent and closed at 57,063.16 points. The index hit 57,750.93 points intraday high and 56,977.02 points intraday low.
Trading activity also remained low as daily volumes on ready counter decreased to 901.596 million shares as compared 1,056.714 million shares traded on Thursday. The daily traded value on ready counter declined to Rs 23.428 billion against previous session’s Rs 28.861 billion.
BRIndex100 fell by 36.52 points or 0.62 percent to close at 5,824.81 points with total daily turnover of 804.651 million shares.
BRIndex30 decreased by 197.79 points or 0.95 percent to close at 20,644.17 points with total daily trading volumes of 600.346 million shares.
Foreign investors however remained net buyer of shares worth $1.923 million. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 16 billion to Rs 8.281 trillion. Out of total 377 active scrips, 189 closed in positive and 170 in negative while the value of 18 stocks remained unchanged.
WorldCall Telecom was the volumes leader with 176.714 million shares and closed at previous session’s closing level of Rs 1.59 without any change followed by K-Electric that gained Rs 0.08 to close at Rs 3.29 with 76.300 million shares. Fauji Foods increased by Rs 1.00 to close at Rs 8.81 with 46.456 million shares.
Unilever Foods and Rafhan Maize were the top gainers increasing by Rs 1000.00 and Rs 671.25 respectively to close at Rs 23000.00 and Rs 9621.25 while Nestle Pakistan and Sapphire Textile were the top losers declining by Rs 200.00 and Rs 81.22 respectively to close at Rs 8600.00 and Rs 1017.77.
Mohammed Waqar Iqbal at JS Global Capital said the KSE-100 Index witnessed a volatile session with a high and low of 57,751 and 56,977 points, respectively.
Major contribution to the traded volume of 902 million shares came from WTL (zero percent), KEL (up 2.5 percent), FFL (up 13 percent), HUMNL (up 4.9 percent) and CNERGY (down 3.8 percent).
BR Automobile Assembler Index gained 16.26 points or 0.13 percent to close at 12,161.35 points with total turnover of 13.154 million shares.
BR Cement Index declined by 97.04 points or 1.55 percent to close at 6,165.47 points with 34.187 million shares.
BR Commercial Banks Index lost 19.57 points or 0.15 percent to close at 13,026.75 points with 42.621 million shares.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index plunged by 332.89 points or 2.41 percent to close at 13,492.83 points with 91.018 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index inched down by 14.17 points or 0.27 percent to close at 5,286.64 points with 85.476 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index added 28.9 points or 0.73 percent to close at 3,964.78 points with 273.548 million shares.
An analyst at Topline Securities said that the KSE-100 Index opened on a positive note and gained to make an intraday high of 354 points, however some profit-taking came in during second half of the trading session as skeptical investors came in to book their profits before the weekend. The KSE-100 Index declined to close at 57,063 level, down by 0.58 percent, making it the first negative closing after six consecutive positive closing.
Major positive contribution to the index came from SNGP, SYS, SEARL, GHGL and RMPL, as they cumulatively contributed plus 109 points to the KSE-100 index. On the flip side HUBC, EFERT, LUCK, OGDC and DAWH lost value to weigh down on the index by negative 299 points.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023