KSE-100 offloads 0.15% in turbulent trading session

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) remained under the grip of pessimism on Thursday as the KSE-100 Index declined 0.15% in a turbulent trading session.

Lack of development over resumption of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme kept investors on the sidelines.

The KSE-100 index closed the trading session at 41,266.77, a decrease of 63.79 points or 0.15%.

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Following an upward open, the KSE-100 Index declined sharply in early hours. It turned range-bound for the remaining part of the session and closed with a loss.

Cement, banking, fertiliser and chemical sectors ended the day in the red while automobile segment saw buying activity and closed with gains. On the other hand, oil sector closed on a mixed note.

A report from Arif Habib Limited stated that a range bound session was witnessed at the PSX.

“The KSE-100 opened in the green but swung both ways throughout the trading session and eventually closed in the red,” the report said. “Investor’s participation remained sluggish in wake of uncertain speculations regarding the resumption of the IMF program.”

Volumes remained dull while the third tier equities led the board, the report added.

A report from Capital Stake highlighted that investors of PSX witnessed a bumpy session on Thursday.

“Indices traded in both zones until finally closing flat, while volumes dropped from last close,” it said.

Sectors pushing the benchmark KSE-100 index towards the negative zone included banking sector (56.29 points), food and personal care products (26.62 points) and textile composite (10.00 points).

Volume on the all-share index fell to 99.95 million from 158.1 million on Wednesday, while the value of shares traded plunged to Rs2.9 billion from Rs6.2 billion recorded in the previous session.

Globe Residency was the volume leader with 10.8 million shares followed by WorldCall Telecom with 9.8 million shares and Cnergyico PK with 5.3 million shares.

Shares of 303 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 134 registered an increase, 134 recorded a fall and 35 remained unchanged.