Market sheds 1,200 points on political uncertainty

KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed its biggest daily decline in over six weeks as uncertainty pertaining to the election results took a toll on the market, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index losing 1,200.13 points (-1.87pc) to close at 62,943.74 points.
The market opened on a negative note and shed around 2,362 points at the start. Though the market remained in the red territory throughout the session, it managed to erode losses by 1,000 points till its closing. .
Market experts attributed the decline to the general election results that surprised analysts as well as the delay in announcement of results. “The delay in election results is driving the market down,” Arif Habib Limited (AHL) said in a note. “As the picture gets clearer, uncertainty in the market will reduce,” it added. Although conduct of the elections remained generally peaceful, questions over the credibility of this electoral exercise continued to persist in the absence of mainstream political force Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and a delay in the election results issuance.
As per preliminary and unofficial results, PTI-backed independent candidates were ahead of their rival candidates in several NA seats.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 1,523.94 points, showing an intraday high of 63,885.09 points and an intraday low of 61,781.76 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 732.39 points (-1.72 percent) to close at 42,581.61 points. Similarly, the KMI All Share Islamic Index shed 621.65 points (-2.01 percent) to close at 30,966.77 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index remained 151.78 million shares. The overall market volumes remained 258.07 million shares. Among scrips, KEL topped the volumes with 20.54 million shares, followed by OGDC (18.93 million) and PPL (17.86 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included KEL, OGDC, PPL, PRL, and WTL, which formed over 33 percent of total volumes.
A total of 317 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of which shares of 54 closed up, shares of 240 companies closed down while shares of 23 companies remained unchanged. A total of 89 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index, out of which share prices of 8 companies closed up, 77 companies closed down and 4 remained unchanged. The number of total trades remained 132,240, while the value traded remained Rs12.53 billion.
In terms of rupee, PMPK remained the top gainer with an increase of Rs30 (+4.48 percent) per share, closing at Rs700. The runner-up remained PKGS, the share price of which climbed up by Rs12.73 (+2.5 percent) to Rs522.85. UPFL remained the top loser with a decrease of Rs64.33 (-0.29 percent) per share, closing at Rs22,300, followed by MARI, the share price of which fell by Rs56.74 (-2.43 percent) to close at Rs2,274.11 per share.
The major sectors taking the index towards south remained oil & gas exploration companies (228 points), commercial banks (218 points), fertilizer (137 points), cement (100 points), oil & gas marketing companies (67 points), technology and communication (66 points), power generation and distribution (57 points), textile composite (43 points), refinery (32 points), and food and personal care products (30 points).
Ten major companies depriving the index of points remained OGDC (56 points), PPL (49 points), ENGRO and EFERT (31 points each), MARI (28 points), HBL (24 points), TRG (22 points), HUBCO (21 points), UBL (17 points), and MEBL (16 points).
The major sector taking the index towards north remained paper and board (3 points) and close-end mutual fund (2 points). Ten major companies adding points to the index remained PKGS (6 points), POL (4 points), PMPK, DYNO and PICT (2 points each), SHSML, HGFA, GLAXO, PIOC, and JSBL (one point each). – TLTP