Late session selling spree plunges KSE-100 further into red

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) came under the grip of profit booking on Wednesday and the KSE-100 offloaded 0.41% owing to rise in political noise.

Expectation of further political deterioration kept market participants at the bay. In addition, rumours that Pakistan will stall the current International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme dented sentiment.

At close, the KSE-100 Index was down 172.59 points or 0.41% to settle at 41,833.66.

Political clarity bolsters PSX, KSE-100 rises 0.69%

Following a mixed open, the market oscillated between red and green zones in early hours. Profit booking accelerated in final hours and made the market close with a loss.

Automobile, cement, chemical, banking and oil sectors saw massive selling while fertiliser space ended with a gain.

A report from Arif Habib Limited stated that the session on the KSE-100 was range bound.

“The market began in the green but swung both ways as political noise flared up as well as recent developments on the IMF program, with the index closing in the negative as investors chose to book profits during the final trading hour,” it said. “Volumes remained strong across the board, with third-tier equities dominating the volume board.”

A report from Capital Stake cited that bulls lost their hold over the PSX on Wednesday.

“Indices traded in both zones while volumes fell from last close,” it said.

On the economic front, Pakistan reported a current account surplus of $18 million in April 2023 as compared to a deficit of $640 million in same period last year.

Sectors dragging the benchmark KSE-100 index downwards included oil and gas exploration (98.63 points), investment banking (35.46 points) and technology and communication (34.11 points).

Volume on the all-share index plunged to 125.5 million from 196.2 million on Tuesday, while the value of shares traded dropped to Rs3.5 billion from Rs5.77 billion recorded in the previous session.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 18.4 million shares followed by Fauji Foods with 8.5 million shares and Hum Network with 6.1 million shares.

Shares of 319 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 117 registered an increase, 179 recorded a fall and 23 remained unchanged.