KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange on Thursday opened in positive however heavy selling mainly in OGDC and PPL due to uncertainty over Circular Debt Reduction Plan forced the market into deep red till the end of the trading session. The benchmark KSE-100 index plunged by 524.43 points or 0.81 percent and closed at 64,298.01 points.
During the session, the index crossed 65,000 psychological level to hit 65,213.61 points intra-day high however due to selling pressure dropped into negative zone to hit 64,180.45 points intra-day low level.
Trading activities remained low as total daily volumes on ready counter decreased to 460.691 million shares as compared to 479.982 million shares traded on Wednesday however total daily traded value on the ready counter increased to Rs 25.248 billion against previous session’s Rs 22.501 billion.
BRIndex100 decreased by 88.16 points or 1.32 percent to close at 6,603.73 points with total daily turnover of 401.916 million shares.
BRIndex30 declined by 771.83 points or 3.22 percent to close at 23,213.79 points with total daily trading volumes of 303.864 million shares.
The foreign investors also remained on the selling side and withdrew $6.061 million from the local equity market. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 88 billion to stand at Rs 9.395 trillion. Out of total 353 active scrips, 233 closed in negative and 102 in positive while the value of 18 stocks remained unchanged.
OGDC was the volume leader with 49.679 million shares however declined by Rs 10.56 to close at Rs 135.31 followed by K-Electric that lost Rs 0.16 to close at Rs 5.26 with 48.974 million shares. Hascol Petroleum gained Rs 0.27 to close at Rs 8.67 with 38.807 million shares.
Pakistan Tobacco Company and Lucky Core Industries were the top gainers increasing by Rs 57.00 and Rs 55.43 respectively to close at Rs 1,085.00 and Rs 794.52 while Rafhan Maize Products Company and Philip Morris Pakistan were the top losers declining by Rs 199.98 and Rs 53.88 respectively to close at Rs 8,800.01 and Rs 676.12.
An analyst at Topline Securities said the Pakistan equities commenced the day on a positive note as the KSE-100 index made an intraday high at 65,213 levels, gaining 391 points.
However, uncertainty over Circular Debt Reduction Plan (due to multiple rumors by different sources claiming acceptance and rejection quoting Ministry of Finance) jiggled investors’ confidence on energy stocks. Resultantly, a selling spree was witnessed in them, especially in OGDC and PPL.
Due to the aforesaid selling headwinds, the benchmark KSE-100 index couldn’t hold 65,000 psychological level and closed the day’s affair on a negative note at 64,298, down 524 points or 0.81 percent), post three consecutive positive sessions.
During the day, OGDC, PPL, BAHL, HUBC and PSO contributed negatively by losing 510 points, cumulatively. On the other hand, ENGRO, MEBL and EFERT saw some buying interest as they added 137 points.
BR Automobile Assembler Index fell by 119.67 points or 0.86 percent to close at 13,859.03 points with 4.458 million shares.
BR Cement Index inched up by 0.72 points or 0.01 percent to close at 6,632.07 points with 35.444 million shares.
BR Commercial Banks Index lost 33.39 points or 0.21 percent to close at 15,796.01 points with 32.196 million shares.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index declined by 166.68 points or 1.16 percent to close at 14,144.66 points with 54.447 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index plunged by 222.57 points or 3.37 percent to close at 6,384.02 points with 127.049 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index decreased by 60.68 points or 1.58 percent to close at 3,768.83 points with 55.389 million shares.
Muhammad Shuja Qureshi at JS Global Capital said that selling pressure in OGDC and PPL pushed the KSE-100 index down to close at 64,298, losing 524 points for the day.
Uncertainty regarding circular debt settlement plan dented the overall sentiment. However, selective stocks, APL (up 2.5 percent), CHCC (up 1.8 percent), ENGRO (up 2.0 percent) and PCAL (up 1.9 percent) managed to close with gains.
The market turnover dropped to 461 million shares, where OGDC (down 7.2 percent), KEL (down 3.0 percent), HASCOL (up 3.2 percent), PPL (down 7.4 percent), and FFBL (down 3.5 percent) were the volume leaders.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
Comments
Comments are closed.