PSX remains under pressure: BRIndex100 drops 15.51 points

KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange remained under pressure during the two day trading week due to selling in various sectors.

BRIndex100 lost 15.51 points on week-on-week basis to close at 5,205.84 points. Average daily volumes stood at 247.519 million shares.

BRIndex30 decreased by 190.03 points to close at 26,771.07 points with average daily turnover of 147.938 million shares.

KSE-100 index closed at 47,793.07 points, down 41.26 points on week-on-week basis. Trading activities remained thin as average daily trading volumes on ready counter decreased by 32 percent to 317.571 million shares. Average daily traded value on ready counter declined by 26 percent and stood at $71 million.

The foreign investors remained net sellers of shares worth $21.02 million as compared to a net buy of $4.61 million during previous week.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said this week trading activity remained dull amid a short trading week due to Eid holidays. Meanwhile sentiment remained in check due to economic concerns on the back of rising current account deficit, depreciation of PKR against green back and expected increase in inflationary readings in upcoming months due to drastic increase in petroleum product prices and PKR/USD depreciation. Pessimism at the bourse was further fuelled by rising COVID infection ratio from 2 percent to over 6 percent and Sindh government imposing stricter restrictions to curb the virus spread as Karachi witnessed a notable surge in its infection ratio to over 20 percent.

Contribution to the downside was led by Cements (49 points), Food and Personal care (19 points), Refineries (14 points), Technology and Communication (12 points) and Textile Composite (11 points). Scrip-wise major losers were TRG (down 30 points), ENGRO (down 25 points), PSO (down 14 points), LUCK (down 12 points) and HBL (down 11 points). Whereas, scrip-wise major gainers were SNGP (up 48 points), PSEL (up 33 points), SYS (up 23 points), FFC (up 18 points) and MEBL (up 16 points).

Foreigners offloaded stocks worth of $21.02 million compared to a net buy of $4.61 million last week. Major selling was witnessed in all other sectors ($21.95 million) and Technology Sectors ($0.61 million). On the local front, buying was reported by Individuals ($9.02 million) followed by Companies ($5.65 million).

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021