KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange on Friday opened in green and remained in positive zone for most part of the session, however investors opted for profit-taking in the second half of the session that eroded almost all intraday gains.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index crossed 79,000 psychological level to hit 79,173.94 points intraday high during the session, however dropped into negative zone due to selling pressure and hit 78,760.03 points intraday low. The index closed at 78,801.43 points, slightly up by only 8.01 points or 0.01 percent.
Trading activities remained low as total daily volumes on ready counter declined to 682.409 million shares as compared to 804.261 million shares traded on Thursday however daily traded value on the ready counter increased to Rs 18.168 billion against previous session’s Rs 16.975 billion.
BRIndex100 inched up by 0.49 points or 0.01 percent to close at 8,360.45 points with total daily turnover of 549.340 million shares.
BRIndex30 lost 108.51 points or 0.41 percent to close at 26,291.90 points with total daily trading volumes of 327.759 million shares.
Foreign investors remained net sellers of shares worth $253,496. The market capitalization increased by Rs 26 billion to Rs 10.512 trillion. Out of total 451 active scrips, 199 closed in negative and 192 in positive while the value of 60 stocks remained unchanged.
Kohinoor Spining was the volume leader with 81.711 million shares however declined by Rs 1.07 to close at Rs 10.92 followed by K-Electric that gained Rs 0.26 to close at Rs 4.43 with 71.849 million shares. Pace (Pak) Limited increased by Rs 0.45 to close at Rs 4.15 with 36.736 million shares.
Unilever Pakistan Foods and Hoechst Pakistan were the top gainers increasing by Rs 323.00 and Rs 172.40 respectively to close at Rs 17,500.00 and Rs 1,896.40 while Bata Pakistan and Philip Morris Pakistan were the top losers declining by Rs 25.24 and Rs 24.43 respectively to close at Rs 1,703.64 and Rs 466.82.
An analyst at Topline Securities said that the KSE-100 Index largely traded in positive zone during the trading session however some profit-taking was observed in closing hours of trade, as the index declined to close on a flat note 78,901 (up by 0.01 percent).
Pharmaceutical Sector remained in limelight where 08 companies out of 12 listed companies gained to close at their respective upper circuit. Investors` interest in Pharmaceutical Sector can be attributed to Pharma conference arranged by Topline Securities Limited where four companies participated to give investors overview of the sector – companies were expecting double-digit revenue growth following the deregulation of non-essential drug prices in April 2024.
BR Automobile Assembler Index decreased by 166.7 points or 0.96 percent to close at 17,133.20 points with total turnover of 5.976 million shares.
BR Cement Index declined by 104.09 points or 1.37 percent to close at 7,500.04 points with 45.508 million shares.
BR Commercial Banks Index gained 21.19 points or 0.09 percent to close at 22,449.00 points with 35.591 million shares.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index lost 27.72 points or 0.15 percent to close at 18,011.73 points with 77.478 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index inched up by 1.32 points or 0.02 percent to close at 7,053.78 points with 39.023 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 4,045.81 points, down 19.06 points or 0.47 percent with 78.349 million shares.
Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said stocks closed flat amid pressure near the earnings season close and futures rollover.
The earlier gains wiped out on concerns for surging power tariff inviting industrial closures and falling rupee, he said adding that falling bond yields and reports of record sales in Pharma sector however supported the market to close on positive note.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024