KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange on Monday closed in negative zone due to selling pressure as the investors opted to book profit on available margins.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index declined by 258.34 points or 0.34 percent and closed at 75,084.00 points. The index hit 75,618.49 points intraday high and 74,734.25 points intraday low levels.

Trading activity also remained low as total daily volumes on ready counter decreased to 375.359 million shares as compared to 496.699 million shares traded on last Friday. The daily traded value on the ready counter declined to Rs 16.301 billion against previous session’s Rs 17.631 billion.

BRIndex100 decreased by 47.06 points or 0.6 percent to close at 7,824.27 points with daily turnover of 323.599 million shares.

BRIndex30 fell by 189.89 points or 0.74 percent to close at 25,405.73 points with daily trading volumes of 208.104 million shares.

Foreign investors however remained net buyers of shares worth $274,763. The market capitalization increased by Rs 7 billion to Rs 10.140 trillion. Out of total 380 active scrips, 223 closed in negative and 137 in positive while the value of 20 stocks remained unchanged.

Hum Network was the volume leader with 30.918 million shares and gained Rs 0.93 to close at Rs 10.90 followed by K-Electric that gained Rs 0.10 to close at Rs 4.67 with 18.317 million shares. Dewan Motors increased by Rs 2.68 to close at Rs 39.73 with 17.860 million shares.

Ismail Industries and Hallmark Company were the top gainers increasing by Rs 69.93 and Rs 41.33, respectively to close at Rs 1,618.85 and Rs 593.44 while Hoechst Pakistan and Khyber Textile Mills were the top losers with Rs 97.78 and Rs 34.55, respectively to close at Rs 1,429.19 and Rs 426.18.

An analyst at Topline Securities said that Pakistan’s equity market experienced a consolidation day. The KSE 100 Index reached an intraday high of 75,618 points (up 276 points) and an intraday low of 74,734 points (minus 608 points).

The Fertilizer, Banking, and IT sectors made positive contributions, with SYS, MEBL, TRG, and FFBL collectively adding 122 points. Conversely, ENGRO, MCB, and HBL collectively lost 143 points.

BR Automobile Assembler Index added 90.01 points or 0.55 percent to close at 16,399.76 points with total turnover of 25.208 million shares.

BR Cement Index declined by 100.91 points or 1.31 percent to close at 7,602.60 points with 41.903 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index decreased by 130.36 points or 0.65 percent to close at 19,866.68 points with 20.963 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index lost 68.05 points or 0.4 percent to close at 17,022.38 points with 30.319 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index fell 39.84 points or 0.58 percent to close at 6,822.79 points with 23.113 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index increased by 80.54 points or 2.1 percent to close at 3,924.75 points with 91.264 million shares.

Mohammed Waqar Iqbal at JS Global Capital said that the market opened on a positive note. However, investors preferred to book profits and reduce their positions due to news flow regarding IMF conditionalities, especially on the tax front and currency devaluation.

Traded volume stood at 375 million shares where HUMNL (up 9.3 percent), KEL (up 2.2 percent), DFML (up 7.2 percent), WTL (down 2.2 percent) and KOSM (down 4.3 percent) were the volume leaders.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024