KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange on Tuesday witnessed bloodbath and recorded worst-ever single day decline due to panic selling mainly by leveraged investors on their concerns over political noise in the country.

The benchmark KSE-100 index nosedived by 2,534.12 points or 4.11 percent and closed at 59,170.98 points. The KSE-100 index has declined by 11 percent or 7,256 points from last peak of 66,427 points.

Total daily trading volumes at ready counter stood at 670.859 million shares as compared to 671.550 million shares traded on last Friday while total daily traded value on the ready counter increased to Rs 17.129 billion against previous session’s Rs 13.709 billion.

BRIndex100 declined by 292.1 points or 4.61 percent to close at 6,045.11 points with total daily turnover of 615.304 million shares.

BRIndex30 plunged by 1582.19 points or 6.91 percent to close at 21,312.69 points with total daily trading volumes of 457.000 million shares.

The foreign investors however remained net buyers of shares worth $1.058 million. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 339 billion to stand at Rs 8.608 trillion. Out of total 369 active scrips, 315 closed in negative and only 43 in positive while the value of 11 stocks remained unchanged.

K-Electric was the volume leader with 97.358 million shares however lost Re 0.74 to close at Rs 4.44 followed by WorldCall Telecom that inched down by Re 0.18 to close at Rs 1.36 with 72.516 million shares. Bank of Punjab closed at Rs 5.72, down Re 0.91 with 41.014 million shares.

Sapphire Fibres and Ibrahim Fibres were the top gainers increasing by Rs 109.12 and Rs 23.45 respectively to close at Rs 1,566.00 and Rs 363.90 while Unilever Pakistan Foods and Nestle Pakistan were the top losers declining by Rs 355.00 and Rs 106.00 respectively to close at Rs 21,000.00 and Rs 7,800.00.

“Pakistan equities started the day on a negative trend, experiencing a “bloodbath” as selling pressure aggressively countered bullish momentum,” an analyst at Topline Securities said. The KSE-100 Index saw its highest-ever decline, plummeting by 2,534 points or 4.11 in a single day and closing at 59,171 points.

“This downturn can be attributed to profit-taking ahead of the calendar year-end, coupled with aggressive reductions by leveraged investors”, the analyst said.

Major negative contributions during the trading hours came from stocks in the Power, OMCs, and Banks sectors. Companies like HUBC, PPL, OGDC, HBL, and PSO collectively incurred a loss of 763 points. On a positive note, stocks such as IBFL, MCB, and FATIMA contributed to a combined gain of 18 points.

BR Automobile Assembler Index decreased by 520.53 points or 3.73 percent to close at 13,435.18 points with total turnover of 3.232 million shares.

BR Cement Index eroded 262.08 points or 4.03 percent to close at 6,243.14 points with 27.395 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index lost 420.7 points or 2.85 percent to close at 14,366.47 points with 67.623 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index plunged by 833.7 points or 5.89 percent to close at 13,326.89 points with 111.356 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index declined by 396.00 points or 6.71 percent to close at 5,508.58 points with 59.704 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index fell by 174.82 points or 4.45 percent to close at 3,757.06 points with 115.139 million shares.

Mubashir Anis Naviwala at JS Global Capital said bloodbath was witnessed at the local bourse, as the KSE-100 index touched an intraday low of 59,027 points eventually closing at 59,171, down 2,534 points.

Trading volumes stood at 671 million shares where top contributors were KEL (down 14 percent), WTL (down 12 percent), BOP (down 14 percent), CNERGY (down 11 percent) and FFL (down 8.5 percent).

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023