KARACHI: Bearish trend continued on Pakistan Stock Exchange on Wednesday due to heavy selling on investor concerns over prevailing political and economic situation in the country.

The benchmark KSE-100 index plunged by 298.86 points or 0.72 percent and closed at 41,074.95 points. During the session, the index hit 41,407.09 points intra-day high and 41,041.32 points intra-day low level.

Trading activities remained extremely low as total daily volumes on ready counter declined to 99.182 million shares as compared to 203.053 million shares traded on Tuesday while total daily traded value on ready counter declined to Rs 3.303 billion against previous session’s Rs 5.847 billion.

BRIndex100 decreased by 31.71 points or 0.76 percent to close at 4,157.70 points with total daily turnover of 86.084 million shares.

BRIndex30 declined by 151.79 points or 1.04 percent to close at 14,422.49 points with total daily trading volumes of 64.351 million shares.

The foreign investors however remained net buyers of shares worth $673,174. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 55 billion to Rs 6.162 trillion. Out of total 313 active scrips, 194 closed in negative and only 98 in positive while the value of 21 stocks remained unchanged.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 14.290 million shares and closed at Rs 1.14, down Re 0.02 followed by TPL Properties that lost Re 0.07 to close at Rs 12.57 with 6.184 million shares. Bank Al-Falah decreased by Rs 0.40 to close at Rs 30.01 with 4.025 million shares.

Nestle Pakistan and Thal Ind Corp were the top gainers increasing by Rs 23.28 and Rs 14.63 respectively to close at Rs 5800.00 and Rs 298.99 while Sapphire Fiber and Bhanero Textile were the top losers declining by Rs 75.70 and Rs 69.23 respectively to close at Rs 934.30 and Rs 1130.77.

“Another negative session was recorded at the PSX,” an analyst at Arif Habib Limited said. The benchmark KSE-100 index opened in the red, continuing the momentum from the previous close after the arrest of the former prime minister. Following the country’s political and economic instability, stocks fell even lower. Investor activity has declined significantly, with third-tier companies leading the volume board.

Sectors contributing to the performance include Commercial Banks (down 76.4 points), E&P (down 63.6 points), Technology & Communication (down 35.7 points), Miscellaneous (down 32.3 points) and Fertilizer (down 29.0 points).

BR Automobile Assembler Index lost 24.81 points or 0.33 percent to close at 7,418.05 points with total turnover of 857,635 shares.

BR Cement Index gained 9.1 points or 0.22 percent to close at 4,172.80 points with 11.301 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index decreased by 70.76 points or 0.8 percent to close at 8,777.69 points with 12.906 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index declined by 61.49 points or 0.82 percent to close at 7,398.51 points with 7.341 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index plunged by 43.25 points or 1.12 percent to close at 3,804.26 points with 11.845 million shares.

BR Tech & Comm Index fell by 36.48 points or 0.95 percent to close at 3,814.42 points with 21.695 million shares.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said that stocks closed lower amid slump in rupee after Moody’s ratings asserts default without IMF bailout programme.

He said weak global stocks and investor concerns for political uncertainty played a catalyst role in bearish close.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023

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