The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Index snapped its 7-session rally on Monday as it closed 211 points lower on profit-taking, especially in the banking, OMC, and power sectors.
The KSE-100 witnessed selling pressure in the opening few hours of the day. At 11:15am, the benchmark index was hovering at 65,321.59 level, a decrease of 902.04 points or 1.36%.
However, in the next half-hour, the index again touched the 66,000 level as it recovered some losses.
At close, the KSE-100 settled at 66,012.33, down by 211.31 points or 0.32%.
“The day witnessed strong selling headwinds just after the opening bell rang as investors opted for profit taking across the board which pushed index below the 66k mark and the benchmark index hit an intraday low at 65,129,” brokerage house Topline Securities stated in its post-market report.
Power, OMCs, and banking sectors received considerable selling pressure where HUBC, HBL, MEBL, PSO and UBL negatively contributed 396 points to the index. On the flip side, FFC, MARI & EFERT saw some buying interest as they added 245 points, cumulatively, the brokerage house said.
Experts said the decline comes on account of profit-taking.
However, overall economic indicators remain positive as investors have set their eyes on the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) executive board meeting on Jan 11, 2024.
“There is currently some profit-taking, which is a normal market phenomenon, and overall sentiment remains optimistic,” Waqas Kukaswadia, analyst at JS Global, told Business Recorder.
During the previous week, the bourse witnessed a record-breaking trend as it hit historic highest levels on the back of aggressive buying by both local and foreign investors coupled with institutional support.
The benchmark index surged by a massive 4,532.38 points on week-on-week basis and crossed the 66,000 psychological level to close at new highest ever level of 66,223.63 points.
In a related development, Mari Petroleum Company Limited (MARI), one of Pakistan’s largest producers of natural gas, saw its market capitalisation cross $1 billion at the PSX on Monday.
As per data available at the PSX, MARI’s market capitalisation stood at Rs288.95 billion or over $1 billion. As a result, Mari Petroleum has become the seventh listed company with over $1 billion market value.
Other Pakistani companies with a market capitalisation of over $1 billion are Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDC), Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan Limited, Nestle Pakistan Limited, Meezan Bank Limited, Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), and Pakistan Tobacco Company.
MARI also announced that it had successfully drilled and tested a horizontal well in District Daharki, Sindh.
Meanwhile, the rupee’s appreciation run against the US dollar finally came to a halt as the currency dipped a marginal 0.01% in the inter-bank market on Monday. As per the State Bank of Pakistan, the local unit settled at 283.90 after a decrease of Re0.03.
Volume on the all-share index decreased to 1,216 million from 1,330 million a session before.
The value of shares inched up to Rs33.4 billion from Rs33.3 billion in the previous session.
K-Electric Ltd. remained the volume leader with 164.6 million shares, followed by WorldCall Telecom with 93.3 million shares and Kohinoor Spinning with 65.3 million shares.
Shares of 386 companies were traded on Monday, of which 159 registered an increase, 224 recorded a fall, while 3 remained unchanged.
Comments