KARACHI: Despite foreign buying, Pakistan Stock Exchange on Thursday closed in negative zone. The market opened on a bullish note, however failed to continue this momentum due to profit-taking that forced the market to close in negative territory.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index declined by 314.39 points or 0.48 percent and closed at 65,417.40 points. During the session, the index crossed 66,000 psychological level to hit 66,196.4 points intraday high, however selling pressure forced the index to drop in negative to hit 65,326.01 points intraday low level.

Daily trading volumes on ready counter increased to 389.654 million shares as compared to 341.843 million shares traded on Wednesday while total daily traded value on the ready counter stood at Rs 11.307 billion against previous session’s Rs 11.844 billion.

BRIndex100 decreased by 32.71 points or 0.48 percent to close at 6,726.95 points with daily turnover of 340.193 million shares.

BRIndex30 plunged by 291.33 points or 1.29 percent to close at 22,257.38 points with daily trading volumes of 262.660 million shares.

Foreign investors however remained net buyers of shares worth $1.812 million. The market capitalization declined by Rs 62 billion to stand at Rs 9.226 trillion. Out of total 357 active scrips, 221 closed in negative and 115 in positive while the value of 21 stocks remained unchanged.

P.T.C.L. was the volume leader with 52.898 million shares however lost Rs 0.55 to close at Rs 15.84 followed by Pak. Int. Bulk Terminal that gained Rs 0.10 to close at Rs 6.05 with 41.979 million shares. Bank of Punjab inched up by Rs 0.16 to close at Rs 5.44 with 29.102 million shares.

Pakistan Engineering Company and JDW Sugar Mills were the top gainers increasing by Rs 38.16 and Rs 31.45, respectively to close at Rs 546.99 and Rs 450.75 while Rafhan Maize Products Company and Khyber Textile Mills were the top losers declining by Rs 350.01 and Rs 49.66 respectively to close at Rs 8,225.00 and Rs 612.53.

An analyst at Topline Securities said Pakistan equities initiated the day’s affairs on a positive note as the KSE-100 Index made an intraday high at 66,196 level (plus 464 points; up 0.70 percent) in the morning.

However, the benchmark KSE-100 Index couldn’t withstand 66,000 due to profit-taking at the day’s high. Resultantly, KSE-100 Index went into negative territory and called the day at 65,417 levels (minus 314 points; down 0.48 percent).

Increased in T-bills cutoff yields in the Wednesday auction could likely be the reason of the market action as it shacked investors’ confidence a bit regarding commencement of monetary easing.

E&P, Tech and Cement sectors contributed negatively to the index as PPL, SYS, OGDC, LUCK and PIOC lost 185 points, cumulatively. On the other side, NBP, FFC and MCB saw some buying interest as they cumulatively added 102 points.

BR Automobile Assembler Index decreased by 113.23 points or 0.72 percent to close at 15,570.14 points with total turnover of 4.410 million shares.

BR Cement Index plunged by 142.04 points or 2.21 percent to close at 6,297.01 points with 12.297 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index gained 32.36 points or 0.19 percent to close at 16,754.67 points with 43.488 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index lost 13.07 points or 0.09 percent to close at 14,380.61 points with 15.521 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index fell by 71.76 points or 1.17 percent to close at 6,053.02 points with 27.523 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index declined by 81.23 points or 2.14 percent to close at 3,707.81 points with 96.162 million shares.

Mubashir Anis Naviwala at JS Global Capital said the market kicked off on a positive note, with an initial gain of 464 points. The KSE-100 Index, however, eventually settled at 65,417, losing 314 points.

The volume leaders were PTC (down 3.4 percent), PIBTL (up 1.7 percent), BOP (up 3.0 percent), WTL (down 3.7 percent) and GATM (down 1.5 percent).

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024