KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange on Tuesday witnessed a mixed trend and after moving in both directions, closed on a negative note as the investors opted to book profit on available margins.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index hit 79,327.05 points intraday high and 78,518.23 points intraday low before closing at 78,628.81 points, down 198.94 points or 0.25 percent.

Trading activity also remained low as total daily volumes on ready counter decreased to 313.085 million shares as compared to 371.087 million shares traded on Monday. The daily traded value on the ready counter declined to Rs 17.615 billion against previous session’s Rs 19.156 billion.

BRIndex100 lost 29.48 points or 0.35 percent to close at 8,322.13 points with total daily turnover of 257.065 million shares.

BRIndex30 decreased by 200.98 points or 0.77 percent to close at 25,973.48 points with total daily trading volumes of 165.683 million shares.

Foreign investors also remained net sellers of shares worth $101,661. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 43 billion to Rs 10.454 trillion. Out of total 447 active scrips, 239 closed in negative and 152 in positive while the value of 56 stocks remained unchanged.

The Organic Meat Company was the volume leader with 24.830 million shares and increased by Rs 1.45 to close at Rs 40.47 followed by The Searle Company that surged by Rs 1.88 to close at Rs 60.31 with 24.067 million shares. Fauji Cement lost Rs 0.89 to close at Rs 21.63 with 15.819 million shares.

Rafhan Maize Products Company and Pakistan Services Limited were the top gainers increasing by Rs 77.44 and Rs 38.57 respectively to close at Rs 7,590.00 and Rs 819.02 while Nestle Pakistan and Pakistan Engineering Company were the top losers declining by Rs 97.13 and Rs 56.40 respectively to close at Rs 6,852.80 and Rs 603.60.

An analyst at Topline Securities said that the KSE-100 Index moved in both directions, where the index made an intraday high of plus 499 points and intraday low of minus 309 points to close at 78,628 level (down by 0.25 percent).

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) cut the lending rate by 100 basis points to 19.5 percent on Monday, continuing the trend that started on June 10. This move aims to boost economic activities, with the real GDP projected to grow by 2.5-3.5 percent this fiscal year.

FFC from the fertilizer sector announced its second quarter 2024 result, where the company posted an EPS of Rs 12.22 per share with a cash dividend of Rs 10 per share which was higher than industry expectations.

During the day, FFC, HUBC, MTL, ENGRO and BAHL contributed positively by adding 269 points, cumulatively. On the flip side, EFERT, DAWH and HBL saw some profit taking as they lost 158 points.

BR Automobile Assembler Index decreased by 96.96 points or 0.52 percent to close at 18,725.43 points with total turnover of 15.863 million shares.

BR Cement Index declined by 134.68 points or 1.72 percent to close at 7,695.44 points with 38.736 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index lost 50.3 points or 0.22 percent to close at 22,560.78 points with 16.126 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index gained 62.47 points or 0.35 percent to close at 18,023.34 points with 13.030 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index fell by 44.65 points or 0.66 percent to close at 6,670.24 points with 12.300 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 3,989.11 points, down 40.18 points or 1.0 percent with 31.674 million shares.

Mubashir Anis Naviwala at JS Global Capital said that a range-bound activity was observed at PSX as investors remained neutral following 100bps cut in policy rate by the SBP.

However, some result-based movement was seen during the day, particularly in FFC, which announced a hefty cash dividend of Rs10/share.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024