KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) edged lower slightly for the third session in a row on Thursday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index losing 53.54 points (-0.08 percent) to close at 65,603.08 points.
The market opened on a negative note but it swung both ways in the first hour. However, the bears controlled the market for most part of the session. The market eroded most of the day’s losses during the last one and a half hours’ buying.
“Investors refrained from making big moves as concerns over a weakening rupee and escalating external debt compounded by uncertainties surrounding new International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditions rattled confidence,” said Capital Stake, a brokerage house, in its report.
According to market experts, the investors remained cautious awaiting developments as the new government prepared to initiate discussions for the final IMF review. Pakistan is likely to commence talks with the Fund next week, as the current $3 billion nine-month IMF programme is expiring next month. Pakistan urgently also needs a fresh IMF agreement to shore up its struggling $350 billion economy which is suffering from high inflation, low reserve and high external financing needs.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 686.47 points, showing an intraday high of 65,874.15 points and an intraday low of 65,187.68 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 15.31 points (+0.04 percent) to close at 43,469.50 points. However, the KMI All Share Islamic Index shed 11.94 points (-0.04 percent) to close at 31,441.54 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index remained 158.39 million shares, while the overall market volumes remained 354.15 million shares. Among scrips, PAEL topped the volumes with 31.07 million shares, followed by TELE (22.64 million) and PIAA (21.56 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included PAEL, TELE, PIAA, WTL, and CNERGY, which formed over 32 percent of total volumes.
A total of 351 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of which shares of 145 closed up, shares of 184 companies closed down while shares of 22 companies remained unchanged.
A total of 94 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index, out of which share prices of 34 companies closed up, 58 companies closed down and two remained unchanged. The number of total trades remained 166,104, while the value traded remained Rs14.44 billion.
In terms of rupee, UPFL remained the top gainer with an increase of Rs400 (+1.86 percent) per share, closing at Rs21,900. The runner-up remained RMPL, the share price of which climbed up by Rs111.12 (+1.25 percent) to Rs9,000. NESTLE remained the top loser with a decrease of Rs310 (-3.78 percent) per share, closing at Rs7,890, followed by MEHT, the share price of which fell by Rs22.5 (-5.61 percent) to close at Rs378.5 per share.
The major sectors taking the index towards north remained oil & gas exploration companies (96 points), cable and electrical goods (23 points), investment bank/investment companies/ securities companies (17 points), power generation and distribution companies (15 points), and oil & gas marketing companies and automobile assemblers (8 points each).
Major companies adding points to the index remained OGDC (30 points), PAEL (13 points), HUBC (12 points), PPL and SAZEW (11 points each), DAWH (10 points), POL (8 points), and KOHC, MTL and IBFL (5 points each).
The major sectors taking the index towards south remained commercial banks (99 points), fertilizer (54 points), food and personal care products (18 points), cement (8 points), and technology and communication (7 points).- TLTP