KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) turned towards correction after breaching the 54,000 points level for the first time in its history on Tuesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 index closing at 53,735.73 points with a loss of 124.39 points (-0.23 percent).
The market opened on a positive note but soon after surging past 54,000 points level during intraday trading, profit-taking activities reversed the gains, causing the benchmark index to close in the red after six straight sessions of green.
The market experienced selling pressure before closing hours due to an overbought situation, as the 14-day relative strength index (RSI) of the KSE-100 Index exceeded 90 for the first since March 2005, reaching an overbought territory. The investor sentiment remained high amid expectations of a successful International Monetary Fund (IMF) review. The KSE-100 Index has gained more than 30 percent this year, with a turnaround in fortunes coming after the IMF approved a $3 billion loan programme in July to avert a sovereign debt default.
A delegation of the global body landed in Islamabad last week for the much-awaited loan review talks, setting the stage for a deep dive into forward-looking reforms under a nine-month bailout package, slated to be completed in March next year. The bull run is also being attributed to the falling interest rate in secondary markets, which is helping the equity market. Moreover, the continuing company buybacks are adding impetus to the market.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 601.43 points, showing an intraday high of 54,312.89 points and an intraday low of 53,711.46 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 87.44 points (-0.24 percent) to close at 35,811.36 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index shed 31.85 points (-0.12 percent) to close at 26,267.27 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index decreased by 23.32 million to 246.17 million shares against 269.49 million shares a session earlier. The overall market volumes decreased by 40.47 million shares to 506.08 million shares against 546.55 million shares traded a session earlier.
Among scrips, CNERGY topped the volumes with 50.46 million shares, followed by PRL (36.25 million) and KOSM (34.75 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included CNERGY, PRL, KOSM, HUMNL, and WTL, which formed around 34 percent of total volumes.
A total of 364 companies traded shares in the stock exchange against 365 companies a session earlier, out of which shares of 125 closed up, shares of 219 companies closed down while shares of 20 companies remained unchanged. A total of 97 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against 98 a session earlier, out of which share prices of 32 companies closed up, 63 closed down and two remained unchanged.
The number of total trades increased to 211,511 from 209,882 a session earlier, while the value traded increased by Rs0.35 billion to Rs18.26 billion against Rs17.91 billion in the previous session.
In terms of rupee, COLG remained the top gainer with an increase of Rs67.96 (+4.43 percent) per share, closing at Rs1,601.78. The runner-up remained SFL, the share price of which climbed up by Rs63.72 (+5.46 percent) to Rs1,230.61. RMPL remained the top loser with a decrease of Rs100 (-1.24 percent) per share, closing at Rs7,950, followed by PAKT, the share price of which fell by Rs45 (-4.79 percent) to close at Rs895 per share.
The sectors taking the index towards south were oil & gas exploration companies (33 points), commercial banks (27 points) and engineering (27 points each), and refinery and textile composite (26 points each). The major companies depriving the index of points remained BAHL (58 points), PSO (22 points), PPL (20 points), HUBC (18 points), and PAKT (17 points).- TLTP