KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange on Monday remained under pressure and closed in deep red with heavy losses as the investors opted to offload their holdings on available margins.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index plunged by 1,510.72 points or 1.32 percent and closed at 112,745.01 points. After opening, the index saw positive trend and hit 114,620.79 points intra-day high, however failed to continue this trend and dropped into negative to hit 112,681.34 points intra-day low level due to selling pressure.
Trading activity remained low as total daily volumes on ready counter decreased to 401.456 million shares as compared to 543.124 million shares traded on last Friday while total daily traded value on the ready counter declined to Rs 20.351 billion against previous session’s Rs 27.973 billion.
BRIndex100 decreased by 156.0 points or 1.3 percent to close at 11,851.32 points with total daily turnover of 345.353 million shares.
BRIndex30 declined by 653.18 points or 1.83 percent to close at 34,943.07 points with total daily trading volumes of 194.266 million shares.
Foreign investors also remained on the selling side and withdrew $1.563 million from the local equity market. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 120 billion to Rs 13.933 trillion. Out of total 450 active scrips, 262 closed in negative and 137 in positive while the value of 51 stocks remained unchanged.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 26.261 million shares and closed at Rs 1.63, down Rs 0.01 followed by Bank of Punjab that gained Rs 0.12 to close at Rs 10.23 with 24.695 million shares. Ghani Chemical lost Rs 0.15 to close at Rs 20.03 with 22.003 million shares.
Unilever Pakistan Foods and Sazgar Engineering Works were the top gainers increasing by Rs 77.83 and Rs 39.19 respectively to close at Rs 22,383.33 and Rs 1,062.95 while Sapphire Fibres Limited and Rafhan Maize Products Company were the top losers declining by Rs 68.45 and Rs 65.30 respectively to close at Rs 1,060.55 and Rs 9,483.33.
An analyst at Topline Securities said that the KSE-100 Index mirrored the trend in global markets, reacting negatively to the news that U.S. President Donald Trump had ordered sweeping tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada, and China. This announcement created a ripple effect in international markets, and the local market followed suit.
The index opened the day under pressure and quickly descended, hitting an intraday low of minus 1,574 points. Despite a slight recovery, the market could not sustain any positive momentum, ultimately closing at 112,745 points, down by 1,510 points or 1.32 percent.
Investor sentiment was largely influenced by the growing concerns over escalating trade tensions and the potential impact on global economic stability. Consequently, the KSE-100 followed the international market’s lead, with significant losses across various sectors.
Key contributors to the index’s negative performance included ENGROH, MARI, FFC, SYS, and PPL, which collectively accounted for a loss of 769 points.
BR Automobile Assembler Index decreased by 202.24 points or 0.92 percent to close at 21,700.82 points with total turnover of 13.208 million shares.
BR Cement Index gained 51.4 points or 0.46 percent to close at 11,199.64 points with 45.009 million shares.
BR Commercial Banks Index lost 22.12 points or 0.07 percent to close at 30,791.28 points with 57.781 million shares.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index declined by 262.38 points or 1.43 percent to close at 18,105.15 points with 16.946 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index plunged by 239.04 points or 2.05 percent to close at 11,397.33 points with 26.933 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index fell by 133.14 points or 2.43 percent to close at 5,341.40 points with 39.743 million shares.
Ali Najib at Insight Securities said that the PSX commenced the month on a negative note as the KSE-100 index called the day at 112,745 level, reflecting a loss of 1,511 points; declined by 1.32 percent.
During the early trading hours, the benchmark index saw buoyant sentiments and made an intra-day high at 114,621 levels (plus 365 points). However, taking influence from regional markets which were mostly receiving selling headwinds since their opening, PSX too walked into the red zone where it stayed for rest of the trading hours till market close.
The cause behind this trend was US President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement to Canada 25 percent, Mexico 25 percent and China 10 percent, formally initiating trade war amongst big global economies.
During the session, Fertilizer, E&P and Tech sector’s stocks witnessed major selling as ENGROH, FFC, MARI, SYS and PPL contributed 771 points, negatively. On the other hand, UBL, LUCK, MEBL and SAZEW added 184 points to the index, as they witnessed some value hunting in them.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.