Stock market sheds 303 points owing to the profit-taking

KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) snapped a two-day winning streak on Monday due to profit-taking amid uncertainty regarding the government’s measures in the upcoming budget, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index losing 303.22 points (-0.40 percent) to close at 75,575.25 points.
The market opened on a positive note and gained over 330 points within a few minutes, breaching the 76,000 points level once again. However, the profit-taking switched in soon, gripping the index for the rest of the session. The negative trend was influenced by the IT, banking, and fertilizer sectors, with companies such as SYS, FFC, EFERT, MEBL, and ENGRO collectively shedding 219 points, brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.
The market gurus attributed the volatility at the bourse to the government’s anticipated measures in the upcoming fiscal year 2024-25 budget. The government aims to achieve fiscal discipline and enhance its tax revenues. As per media reports, major changes are expected in tax laws through the Finance Bill 2024 to increase the cost of financial transactions of the non-filers of income tax returns and introduce enforcement measures of Rs300-400 billion in 2024-25. The Finance Bill 2024 would also enhance the powers of the Directorate General of Digital Invoicing, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to document the supply chains of all major businesses.
The benchmark index has surged by 83.14 percent during the last one year and 16.88 percent during the current year. Earlier on Friday, the KSE-100 gained over 1,000 points on a euphoria about the discussions between Pakistan authorities and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over a new bailout program for Pakistan. In a key development, Pakistan’s headline inflation clocked in at 11.8 percent on a year-on-year basis in May, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said on Monday, much lower than the reading in April when it stood at 17.3 percent. On a month-on-month basis, the reading decreased to -3.2 percent.
Meanwhile, Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), the country’s largest hydrocarbon exploration firm, said it has achieved a significant enhancement in oil and gas production from its wells located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh. In a notice to the PSX, OGDC said the company had commenced production from its new development well Chanda-7, located in district Kohat, KP.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 714.58 points, showing an intraday high of 76,209.96 points and an intraday low of 75,495.38 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 23.93 points (-0.05 percent) to close at 48,804.39 points. Similarly, the KMI All Share Islamic Index shed 58.17 points (-0.17 percent) to close at 34,765.39 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index remained 190.98 million shares, while the overall market volumes remained 441.26 million shares. Among scrips, FCCL topped the volumes with 32.84 million shares, followed by KEL (31.65 million) and PIAHCLA (25.57 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included FCCL, KEL, PIAHCLA, DFML and AIRLINK, which formed over 28 percent of total volumes.
A total of 426 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of which shares of 199 closed up, shares of 178 companies closed down while shares of 49 companies remained unchanged. A total of 98 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index, out of which share prices of 45 companies closed up, 51 companies closed down and two remained unchanged. The number of total trades remained 231,745, while the value traded was recorded at Rs18.63 billion.
In terms of rupee, NESTLE remained the top gainer with an increase of Rs154.64 (+2.15 percent) per share, closing at Rs7,349.19. The runner-up remained SAZEW, the share price of which climbed up by Rs34.31 (+4.36 percent) to Rs820.45. SFL remained the top loser with a decrease of Rs72.57 (-4.9 percent) per share, closing at Rs1,407.43, followed by HCL, the share price of which fell by Rs35.23 (-7.17 percent) to close at Rs456.43 per share.
The major sectors taking the index towards south remained commercial banks (159 points), fertilizer (120 points), oil & gas exploration companies (43 points), power generation & distribution (25 points), engineering (20 points), investment banks/investment companies/securities companies (16 points) and pharmaceuticals (12 points).
Major companies depriving the index of points remained SYS (59 points), FFC (45 points), MEBL (42 points), EFERT (36 points), ENGRO (35 points), UBL (27 points), OGDC and MCB (26 points each), BAFL (25 points), and HUBC (17 points).
The major sectors taking the index towards north remained cement (28 points), automobile assembler (26 points), technology & communication (22 points), leather & tanneries (10 points), and miscellaneous, cable and electrical goods and food and personal care products (8 points each).
Major companies adding points to the index remained TRG (67 points), MTL (23 points), POL (13 points), NESTLE (11 points), AVN and SRVI (10 points each), SHEL, MLCF and PAEL (8 points each), and LUCK (7 points). – TLTP