KSE-100 slides 0.45% over 'govt’s energy conservation strategy'

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a depressed session on Tuesday and the KSE-100 Index retreated 0.45%, driven by government of Pakistan’s announcement of stringent measures to conserve energy, said a brokerage house in a post-market comment.

The government's announcement was made towards the close of the session and triggered a minor selling spell at the equity market.

KSE-100 begins 2023 with nearly 1% gain

At close on Tuesday, the KSE-100 Index fell 185.26 points or 0.45% to finish at 40,630.64.

Following a brief open in the positive zone, the KSE-100 index traded downward in the initial hour before a buying spell propped it upward. By midday, the index was trading flat but announcement of power conversation measures by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif shattered sentiment and dragged the market lower.

In his press conference, Asif announced that marriage lawns in Pakistan will close at 10pm while markets will shut down at 8:30pm.

Government departments will reduce energy consumption by 30% in a bid to resolve the energy issues hammering the nation, he said.

Points of Energy Saving Plan

• Marriage lawns to close at 10pm

• Markets to close at 8:30pm

• Suspension of production of inefficient electric fans from 1 July 2023 onward

• Production of incandescent light bulbs to stop from 1 February 2023

• Use of conical baffles in all geysers

• Government departments to reduce energy consumption by 30%

• Alternate street lights will be turned on at a time

• Awareness campaigns will be conducted to save energy

He also notified suspension of production of inefficient electric fans from 1 July 2023 onward and production of incandescent light bulbs from 1 February 2023.

The government aims to save billions of rupees through these measures.

A report from Capital Stake stated that investors of the PSX witnessed tug-of-war between bulls and bears where the latter turned out victorious.

Indices swung in both directions, while volumes fell from previous close, it said.

Topline Securities cited in its report that Pakistan equities closed negative where benchmark KSE-100 Index settled at 40,663 level down (0.37%).

“Range bound activity has been witnessed at the bourse where market make an intraday high of 200 points and a low of 220 points,” it said.

“Market witnessed a declining trend in second half after Defence Minister Khawaja Asif announcement regarding federal government's energy conservation plan that will enforce the closure of markets at 8:30pm and wedding halls at 10pm.”

On the economic front, rupee lost Re0.5 or 0.22% against the US dollar, ending the session at Rs226.94.

Sectors dragging the benchmark KSE-100 index downwards included cement (57.67 points), banking (53.16 points) and power generation and distribution (27.46 points).

Volume on the all-share index fell to 201.1 million from 242.2 million on Monday. The value of shares traded declined to Rs5 billion from Rs7.3 billion recorded in the previous session.

Hascol was the volume leader with 20.6 million shares, followed by WorldCall Telecom with 16.3 million shares, and Sui Northern Gas with 14.3 million shares.

Shares of 333 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 113 registered an increase, 192 recorded a fall, and 28 remained unchanged.