PSX hit by selling pressure: BRIndex100 slips

KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) Tuesday closed lower due to selling pressure.

BRIndex100 declined by 11.47 points or 0.25 percent to close at 4,540.64 points compared to t 4,552.11 points Monday. It touched an intraday high of 4,602.71 points and an intraday low of 4,526.23 points. The share trading volume stood at 627.605 million and Pakistan Refinery was the most traded company in BRIndex100 with a volume of 64.427 million.

BRIndex30 decreased by 256.25 points or 1.12 percent to close at 22,707.70 points. It touched an intraday high of 23,146.19 points and an intraday low of 22,643.55 points. Total volume was 348.855 million shares and Hascol Petroleum was the most traded company in BRIndex30 with a volume of 62.874 million shares.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index closed negative at 43,251 levels, down 15 points, after making a high and a low of 443 and 140 points, respectively. Share trading volumes on ready counter surged to 702 million shares on Tuesday compared to 629.5 million a day earlier.

However, the market capitalization increased by Rs 16 billion to Rs 7.917 trillion. Out of total 418 active scrips, 199 closed in positive and 201 in negative while the value of 18 stocks remained unchanged.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corp said that stocks closes lower amid pressure in oil stocks amid weak global crude oil prices and uncertainty in global equities.

He said that cement, fertilizer and banking stocks outperformed on upbeat data for cement dispatches in Nov'20 at 4.5 million tons surging by 4pc YoY, fertilizer sales up by 42.2pc YoY in Nov'20 and surging banking deposits. Investor concerns for rupee instability, Nepra approval over surge in power tariff for Discos and uncertainty over IMF new terms for EFF played a catalyst role for bearish close, he added.

Pak Refinery was the volume leader with 64.42 million shares and closed at Rs 21.29 followed by Hascol Petrol that closed at Rs 15.68 with 62.874 million shares. Azgard Nine ranked third with 42.657 million shares and closed at Rs 26.11.

Nestle Pakistan and Sapphire Fiber were the top gainers increasing by Rs 110.52 and Rs 69.00 respectively to close at Rs 6,930.00 and Rs 995.00 respectively. Wah-NobelXD and Murree Brewery were the top losers declining by Rs 16.20 and Rs 14.05 respectively to close at Rs 258.80 and Rs 550.00.

BR Automobile Assembler Index closed at 8,641.88 points with a net positive change of 135.51 points or a percentage change of 1.59 and a total turnover of 13.657 million shares. BR Cement Index lost 70.05 points to close at 6,144.54 points with a total turnover of 55.037 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index gained 92.04 points to reach at 8,933.45 points with a total turnover of 30.156 million. BR Power Generation and Distribution Index closed at 5,052.68 points with a net negative change of 78.81 points or a percentage change of 1.54 and total turnover was 17 million.

BR Oil and Gas Index declined by 35.94 points to close at 4,035.02 points with a total turnover of 78.471 million shares. BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 2,336.24 points with a net negative change of 19.36 points or a percentage change of 0.82 and a total turnover of 72.298 million.

According to Topline analysts, Pakistan equities continued their momentum with the market making an intra-day high of 43,709 (up 1.03%) continuing to trade in the green till the last half hour when profit taking was witnessed which dragged the index down to close the day.

Major positive contributors to the index were MCB, MEBL, MTL, NML & FFC who cumulatively added 155 points while HUBC, LUCK, & PPL were the major laggards who cumulatively dragged the benchmark index down by 140 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Research said that on Tuesday market added another 443pts during the session before facing the selling pressure that eroded all the gains and took the Index down. The oscillation of was attributed mainly to profit booking by investors, after seeing a total increase of 4000pts since the recent drop to 39500 level.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020