KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange on Wednesday closed in a negative zone due to selling pressure as the investors opted to offload their holdings on available margins following their concerns over prevailing political situation in the country.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index plunged by 741.82 points or 0.94 percent and closed at 77,886.99 points. The index hit 79,151.82 points intraday high, however failed to continue this trend due to selling pressure and dropped into negative zone to hit 77,810.17 points intraday low level.

Foreign investors also remained net sellers of shares worth $790,061. The daily trading volumes on ready counter increased to 382.597 million shares as compared to 313.085 million shares traded on Tuesday however total daily traded value on the ready counter declined to Rs 14.638 billion against previous session’s Rs 17.615 billion.

BRIndex100 decreased by 89.92 points or 1.08 percent to close at 8,232.21 points with total daily turnover of 310.072 million shares.

BRIndex30 declined by 406.85 points or 1.57 percent to close at 25,566.63 points with total daily trading volumes of 210.145 million shares.

The market capitalization declined by Rs 87 billion to Rs 10.367 trillion. Out of total 442 active scrips, 254 closed in negative and 118 in positive while the value of 70 stocks remained unchanged.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 81.162 million shares and inched up Rs 0.09 to close at Rs 1.25 followed by Kohinoor Spining that gained Rs 0.26 to close at Rs 4.08 with 24.698 million shares. TPL Properties increased by Rs 0.46 to close at Rs 7.94 with 19.693 million shares.

Nestle Pakistan and Mehmood Textile Mills were the top gainers increasing by Rs 112.70 and Rs 27.18 respectively to close at Rs 6,965.50 and Rs 665.95 while Unilever Pakistan Foods and Sapphire Fibres were the top losers declining by Rs 312.14 and Rs 98.99 respectively to close at Rs 18,000.00 and Rs 1,499.92.

An analyst at Topline Securities said that a volatile session was observed as the KSE-100 Index traded between its intraday high of plus 523 points and intraday low of minus 819 points to finally close at 77,887 (down by 0.94 percent).

Major positive contribution to the index came from FFC, FATIMA, ENGRO, PAKT and NESTLE, as they cumulatively contributed plus 90 points to the index. On the other hand UBL, SYS, LUCK, OGDC and POL lost value to weigh down on the index by minus 321 points.

BR Automobile Assembler Index declined by 327.56 points or 1.75 percent to close at 18,397.87 points with total turnover of 10.591 million shares.

BR Cement Index plunged by 203.24 points or 2.64 percent to close at 7,492.20 points with 16.704 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index decreased by 202.28 points or 0.9 percent to close at 22,358.50 points with 24.177 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index lost 120.54 points or 0.67 percent to close at 17,902.80 points with 16.410 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index fell by 82.11 points or 1.23 percent to close at 6,588.13 points with 9.663 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index eroded 97.3 points or 2.44 percent to close at 3,891.81 points with 106.712 million shares.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said stocks closed sharply lower on investor concerns for S&P Global keeping ratings at CCC+ citing reliance on foreign assistance for debt obligations, political risks to impact economy and structural reforms.

He said falling Pak Rupee, political noise and protests over surging industrial power tariff played a catalyst role in bearish close.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024