KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) snapped a four-session winning streak on Tuesday and turned towards correction, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index losing 312.18 points (-0.48 percent) to close at 64,349.60 points.
The market opened on a positive note and breached the 65,000 points milestone at the opening. However, later the indices switched between the red and green territories and finally the bears made their debut in the second session of the new year.
The experts were of the view that correction was expected after the massive four-day bull-run. The benchmark index gained 5,490.83 points in the previous four sessions and a correction was due. The market sentiment was also hurt by high and sticky inflation, which rose 29.7 percent year-on-year in December, while the experts were anticipating that inflation will cool down to some extent.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 1,120.07 points, showing an intraday high of 65,333.69 points and an intraday low of 64,213.62 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 233.20 points (-0.54 percent) to close at 42,991.53 points. Similarly, the KMI All Share Islamic Index shed 151.13 points (-0.48 percent) to close at 31,542.93 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index increased by 84.12 million shares to 424.02 million shares against 339.90 million traded in the previous session. Similarly, the overall market volumes increased by 46.55 million shares to 671.67 million shares against 625.12 million shares traded a session earlier.
Among scrips, KEL topped the volumes with 79.85 million shares, followed by WTL (46.48 million) and BOP (34.95 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included KEL, WTL, BOP, PPL, and FCCL, which formed over 33 percent of total volumes.
A total of 375 companies traded shares in the stock exchange against 377 in the previous session, out of which shares of 104 closed up, shares of 250 companies closed down while shares of 21 companies remained unchanged. A total of 98 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against 96 in the previous session, out of which share prices of 27 companies closed up, 69 companies closed down and two remained unchanged.
The number of total trades increased to 246,046 from 226,156 recorded in the previous session, while the value traded increased by Rs5.92 billion to Rs24.45 against Rs18.53 billion in the previous session.
In terms of rupee, SAPT remained the top gainer with an increase of Rs86.76 (+5.85 percent) per share, closing at Rs1,569.68. The runner-up remained HPL, the share price of which climbed up by Rs31.53 (+2.45 percent) to Rs1,320. PAKT remained the top loser with a decrease of Rs58.47 (-5.17 percent) per share, closing at Rs1,072.11, followed by MARI, the share price of which fell by Rs47.11 (-2.19 percent) to close at Rs2,100.19 per share.-TLTP