KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange on Friday witnessed mixed trend and after moving in both directions finally closed on negative note as the investors opted to offload their holdings on the last day of the trading week.

The benchmark KSE-100 index crossed 65,000 psychological level to hit 65,077.48 points high, however failed to sustain this momentum and dropped into negative zone to hit 63,757.96 points intra-day low before closing at 64,514.90 points, down 124.26 points or 0.19 percent from previous session’s closing level.

Total daily trading volumes increased to 949.559 million shares as compared to 548.989 million shares traded on Thursday while total daily traded value on the ready counter increased to Rs 19.355 billion against previous session’s Rs 15.395 billion.

BRIndex100 lost 20.56 points or 0.31 percent to close at 6,642.69 points with total daily turnover of 892.802 million shares.

BRIndex30 inched down by 21.01 points or 0.09 percent to close at 24,140.73 points with total daily trading volumes of 735.448 million shares.

The foreign investors remained net buyers of shares worth $62,640. Total market capitalization increased by Rs 12 billion to Rs 9.373 trillion. Out of total 362 active scrips, 187 closed in negative and 161 in positive while the value of 14 stocks remained unchanged.

K-Electric was the volume leader with 481.119 million shares and gained Re 0.47 to close at Rs 6.12 followed by WorldCall Telecom that closed at Re 1.47, down Re 0.01 with 33.379 million shares. Bank of Punjab lost Re 0.07 to close at Rs 6.92 with 28.423 million shares.

Nestle Pakistan and Sapphire Fibres were the top gainers increasing by Rs 200.00 and Rs 110.00 respectively to close at Rs 8,400.00 and Rs 1,800.00 while Unilever Pakistan Foods and Pakistan Services Limited were the top losers declining by Rs 150.00 and Rs 54.90 respectively to close at Rs 22,100.00 and Rs 955.10.

An analyst at Topline Securities said that the KSE-100 Index largely traded in positive zone during the first half of trading session, however pressure was observed in the second half of trading session on account of news that Senate has passed a resolution for delay in election due to security concerns and index fell to make an intraday low of 881 points.

However some recovery was observed in the eleventh hour as investor’s weighed in the fact that resolution was passed thin attendance and it is a non-binding resolution, as index recovered to close at 64,515, down by 0.19 percent.

Major positive contribution to the index came from KEL, SRVI, SEARL, HBL and SHEL, as they cumulatively contributed plus 112 points to the index. On the flip side FFC, ENGRO, PSEL, BAHL and PAKT lost value to weigh down on the index by minus 143 points.

BR Automobile Assembler Index increased by 274.55 points or 1.93 percent to close at 14,502.45 points with total turnover of 15.501 million shares.

BR Cement Index decreased by 36.76 points or 0.53 percent to close at 6,960.16 points with 22.792 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index lost 24.8 points or 0.16 percent to close at 15,517.19 points with 46.610 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index gained 41.65 points or 0.28 percent to close at 14,719.08 points with 490.180 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index inched down by 8.37 points or 0.13 percent to close at 6,212.67 points with 44.480 million shares.

BR Tech & Comm Index closed at 4,024.84 points, down 25.9 points or 0.64 percent with 88.963 million shares.

“Panic selling on election related news turned the sentiment negative, resultantly KSE-100 index lost 124 points to close at 64,515,” Muhammad Shuja Qureshi at JS Global Capital said.

However, selective stocks managed to close with good gains. For the second consecutive day, HCAR, PSMC, and SAZEW closed at their upper circuit. Other notable gainers were ATBA, EXIDE, SEARL, and SHEL.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024