Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed bearish trend due to selling in various sectors. BRIndex100 lost 77.86 points or 1.77 percent to close at 4,318.02 points on Thursday. During the session, the BRIndex-100 touched an intraday high of 4,400.25 and an intraday low of 4,306.36 points. Total volumes stood at 148.064 million shares.
BRIndex30 decreased by 326.46 points or 1.42 percent to close at 22,702.45 points with total turnover of 98.365 million shares. Pakistan's benchmark KSE-100 index declined by 545.21 points or 1.32 percent and closed at 40,874.03 points. Daily trading volumes stood at 160.197 million shares as compared to 167.325 million shares traded on previous session.
The foreign investors remained net sellers of shares worth $2 million. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 101 billion to Rs 8.106 trillion. Out of total 362 active scrips, 268 closed in negative and only 78 in positive while the value of 16 stocks remained unchanged.
Lotte Chemical was the volume leader with 17.138 million shares however lost Rs 0.42 to close at Rs 19.27 followed by Engro Polymer that gained Rs 0.07 to close at Rs 40.41 with 10.971 million shares. Murree Brewery and National Refinery were the top gainers increasing by Rs 26.83 and Rs 14.67 respectively to close at Rs 782.83 and Rs 308.26 while Colgate Palmolive and Rafhan Maize were the top losers declining by Rs 126.49 and Rs 100.00 respectively to close at Rs 2403.49 and Rs 7100.00.
BR Commercial Banks Index plunged by 136.28 points or 1.59 percent to close at 8,413.70 points with total turnover of 13.244 million shares. BR Cement Index lost 29.91 points or 0.63 percent to close at 4,744.92 points with 22.587 million shares. BR Oil and Gas Index declined by 150.41 points or 2.89 percent to close at 5,053.42 points with 6.219 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index decreased by 12.7 percent or 1.08 percent to close at 1,161.26 points with 15.290 million shares.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index closed at 6,124.53 points, down 16.81 points or 0.27 percent with 2.570 million shares. An analyst at Topline Securities said it was a disappointing trading session for the benchmark index as it succumbed to selling pressure, declining by 545 points or 1.32 percent. Investors were mainly left dissatisfied by the news that the country was unable to reach an immediate agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package, to help solve its economic challenges.
Declining international oil prices continued to have a negative impact on E&P's, as POL (down 4.7 percent), MARI (down 3.9 percent), PPL (down 3.6 percent) and OGDC (down 3.1 percent) all fell.