Pakistan Stock Exchange Friday nosedived due to panic selling following investors' concerns over the spread of coronavirus. BRIndex100 lost 153.31 points or 3.71 percent to close at 3,974.30 points. BRIndex100 touched intraday high of 4,127.61 and intraday low of 3,964.23 points. Volumes stood at 232.091 million shares.

BRIndex30 declined by 927.00 points or 4.46 percent to close at 19,870.26 points with a turnover of 183.716 million shares. The KSE-100 Index plunged by 1,162.44 points or 2.95 percent to close at 38,219.67 points. Trading activity remained low as daily volumes on the ready counter decreased to 244.454 million shares as compared to 340.722 million shares traded Thursday. The market capitalization declined by Rs 186 billion to Rs 7.156 trillion. Out of total 355 active scrips, 265 closed in negative, only 67 in positive while the value of 23 stocks remained unchanged.

Maple Leaf was the volume leader with 27.254 million shares. However, it lost Re 0.18 to close at Rs 28.02 followed by Fauji Cement that closed at Rs 17.48, down Re 0.40 with 25.868 million shares. Nestle Pakistan and Colgate Palmolive were the top gainers with Rs 100.00 and Rs 59.99, respectively to close at Rs 7,700.00 and Rs 2,399.99. Philip Morris Pak and Sapphire Fiber were the top losers with Rs 99.96 and Rs 61.59, respectively to close at Rs 1,899.99 and Rs 818.40. BR Automobile Assembler Index decreased by 96.77 points or 1.69 percent to close at 5,615.12 points with total turnover of 1.464 million shares.

BR Cement Index shed 69.2 points or 1.59 percent to close at 4,278.60 points with 115.538 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index plunged by 315.63 points or 3.4 percent to close at 8,980.93 points with 15.514 million shares. BR Power Generation and Distribution Index declined by 222.87 points or 4.25 percent to close at 5,021.41 points with 8.666 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index closed at 3,977.51 points, down 187.3 points or 4.5 percent with 21.790 million shares. BR Tech. & Comm. Index lost 32.26 points or 3.23 percent to close at 965.37 points with 13.966 million shares. An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the market saw a major draw down of 1,259 points during the session that ended negative 1162.44 points at the close of session.

The cement sector continued the rally but ended abruptly by the end of session, sustaining price losses from respective LDCPs. Other than that, weak oil prices had their reflection on oil and gas chain primarily due to decline in WTI price which saw lowest levels in recent times. Resultantly, OGDC and PPL were seen closing near lower circuit breakers. Fertilizer sector also realized losses on the back of price cut by FFC for Urea price. Cement sector led the trading volumes with 115.5 million shares, followed by Banks (15.5 million shares) and Technology (13.8 million shares).

Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (down 362 points), E&P (down 243 points), Fertilizer (down 155 points), Power (down 118 points), O&GMCs (down 78 points) and Miscellaneous (up 25 points). Stocks that contributed positively include MARI (up 30 points), PSEL (up 25 points), NESTLE (up 10 points), COLG (up 8 points) and FATIMA (up 6 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include OGDC (down 114 points), PPL (down 105 points), ENGRO (down 98 points), HUBC (down 98 points) and HBL (down 83 points).