The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) experienced widespread selling pressure on Monday, resulting in a significant decline in the benchmark KSE-100 Index that closed the day lower by 589 points.
The KSE-100 started the session with some positivity, hitting an intra-day high of 78,886.46.
However, strong selling pressure took toll on the market and pushed it below 78,000.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 77,980.29, down by 589.30 points or 0.75%.
“The equity market closed on a negative note today. The benchmark index remained volatile throughout the session,” brokerage house Ismail Iqbal Securities said in its post-market report.
Selling was witnessed in key sectors including banks, cement, technology, fertiliser, OMCs, autos, and pharma. Meanwhile, E&P and power sectors contributed positively.
Topline Securities said the KSE-100 began the day on a positive note, with an intra-day high of 316 points. However, selling pressure emerged in the second half, pushing the index to an intraday low of 629 points, it added.
In its report, Topline said MARI was the standout performer of the day, continuing its upward momentum after two consecutive upper caps in the previous sessions, following the company’s announcement of an 800% bonus.
Separately, Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), Pakistan’s largest exploration and production (E&P) company, said it had commenced the production of tight gas from Nur West Well-1 located in Sindh.
The listed company shared the development in a notice to the PSX on Monday.
“OGDCL is pleased to report the commencement of early commercial production of tight gas from Nur West Well-1. OGDCL holds 100% working interest in Nur Development & Production Lease (D&PL), located in district Sujawal, Sindh,” read the notice.
Meanwhile, Millat Tractors Limited (MTL), the country’s largest tractor manufacturer, signaled that it may have to shut down its operations amid lower sales and refund delays from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
“It is informed that till now MTL has not stopped operations. MTL shall inform the stock exchange if it happens,” the company informed its stakeholders.
During the previous week, PSX remained under pressure due to selling but strong financial results mainly in E&P sector stocks invited healthy buying that supported the market to recover its losses and close on a positive note on a week-on-week basis.
The benchmark KSE-100 index increased by 343.61 points on week-on-week basis and crossed 78,000 psychological level to close at 78,569.59.
However, the week started off with selling pressure.
Globally, Asian stocks edged higher on Monday as a holiday in Japan removed one source of recent volatility, and investors hunkered down for major US and Chinese economic data for an update on global growth prospects.
Key for the Federal Reserve will be US consumer prices on Wednesday where economists look for rises of 0.2% in both the headline and core, with the annual core slowing a tick to 3.2%.
The futures market currently implies a 49% chance of the Fed cutting by 50 basis points in September, though that is down from 100% a week ago when Japanese equities went into free fall.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.6%, led by a 1.6% bounce in Taiwan.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee registered a marginal decline, depreciating 0.03% against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Monday. At close, the currency settled at 278.64, a loss of Re0.09, against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index inched lower to 415.17 million from 420.40 million a session ago.
However, the value of shares increased to Rs22.24 billion from Rs20.72 billion in the previous session.
Yousuf Weaving was the volume leader with 38.07 million shares, followed by WorldCall Telecom with 19.21 million shares, and Kohinoor Spining with 13.35 million shares.
Shares of 444 companies were traded on Monday, of which 122 registered an increase, 278 recorded a fall, while 44 remained unchanged.