KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) went slightly down on Monday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index losing 38.45 points (-0.06 percent) to close at 65,755.30 points.
The market opened on a positive note but it swung both ways in the first hour. However, the market remained in the green for most part of the session. The traders seemed unwilling to take on risks ahead of the monetary policy committee meeting, which is scheduled for next Monday.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 420.58 points, showing an intraday high of 66,119.34 points and an intraday low of 65,698.76 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 30.80 points (+0.07 percent) to close at 43,707.91 points. However, the KMI All Share Islamic Index gained 37.80 points (-0.12 percent) to close at 31,565.37 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index increased to 251.63 million shares against 240.1 million shares a session earlier. Similarly, the overall market volumes increased to 548.76 million shares against 481.70 million shares a session earlier.
Among scrips, CNERGY topped the volumes with 96.54 million shares, followed by HASCOL (52.27 million) and KOSM (27.35 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included CNERGY, HASCOL, KOSM, PTC and TELE, which formed over 40 percent of total volumes.
A total of 355 companies traded shares in the stock exchange against the same number of companies a session earlier, out of which shares of 220 closed up, shares of 116 companies closed down while shares of 19 companies remained unchanged. A total of 98 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against 95 a session earlier, out of which share prices of 58 companies closed up, 33 companies closed down and seven remained unchanged. The number of total trades increased to 217,647 from 194,515 a session earlier, while the value traded decreased to Rs16.61 billion against Rs16.99 billion a session earlier.
In terms of rupee, RMPL remained the top gainer with an conservation, besides emphasising upon the uplift of administrative infrastructure of the energy sector at par with the international standards.
He called for merit-based appointment of capable persons in the energy sector and sought the presentation of short, mid and long term strategies on the energy sector reforms.
The prime minister also directed for presenting a strategy on country’s mineral resources, their exploration and enhancement of exports.
The meeting was told that country’s oil and gas reserves were depleting fast and petroleum products worth $4 billion were being exported annually and the local exploration would save foreign exchange worth billions of dollars.
The meeting was also apprised of the reserves of tight gas and undersea oil reserves and the interest of the foreign investors in the sector.
It was told that work on LPG Policy 2024 was underway and consultation with the stakeholders was in progress. – APP