KSE-100 drops 0.86% amid profit-taking at PSX

Failing to extend gains, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw investors resort to profit-taking, pushing the KSE-100 Index lower in the first trading session of the week. The volume and value of shares traded also registered a significant decline.

The market observed a negative session as the US dollar continued its upward trajectory against the rupee, which finished with a loss of Rs1.21 or 0.58% to close at 209.96 to the dollar as uncertainty around the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) bailout programme and falling foreign exchange reserves continued to take a toll.

On Friday, the KSE-100 index rose 410.6 points to power past the 42,000-point mark, following speculation that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will remove Pakistan from the grey-list after markets closed.

The trading session commenced on a positive note, with the benchmark KSE 100 index gaining 195 point and recording an intraday high of 42,355.83. Failing to sustains the gains, though, it fell as low as 41,735.53 , down 387.23 points.

By the end of the day, the index had dropped 363.78 points, or 0.86%, to close at 41,776.98 points.

“Investor participation lingered in the lackluster zone over concerns of resumption of IMF program,” said Arif Habib Limited (AHL) in its post-market comment.

Sectors dragging the benchmark index lower included cement (70.64 points), technology and communication (62.71 points) and power generation and distribution (50.68 points).

Volume on the all-share index decreased to 162.1 million from 282.9 million on Friday. The value of shares traded also significantly declined to Rs4.91 billion from Rs9.06 billion recorded in the previous session.

TPL Properties was the volume leader with 19.50 million shares, followed by WorldCall Telecom with 15.35 million shares, and Pak Refinery with 11.82 million shares.

Shares of 318 companies were traded on Monday, of which 87 registered an increase, 220 recorded a fall, and 11 remained unchanged.