Selling pressure returns as KSE-100 settles in red

After days of positive momentum, selling pressure was seen at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as the benchmark KSE-100 ended a volatile trading session down over 0.3% on Tuesday.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 65,726.04, down by 225.68 points or 0.34%. Earlier, the index hit an intra-day low of 65,500.07.

Across-the-board selling was witnessed with index-heavy stocks including OGDC, PPL, PSO and SNGPL settling in the red.

The selling comes as investors have resorted to profit-taking, said market analysts.

In a key development, the country’s newly elected Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, asked his team to immediately proceed with talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) regarding the Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

The PM said he wants an action plan prepared on an emergency basis to improve the economic situation, adding that the economy is the first priority of the new government.

Experts say that one of the major objectives of the new government will be to negotiate a fresh, 24th IMF Programme.

On Monday, bullish momentum continued at the PSX as investors rejoiced at developments on the formation of a new government with the benchmark KSE-100 Index settling at 65,951.72, an increase of 626.04 points or 0.96%.

Globally, Asian markets largely fell on Tuesday after China set a five percent annual growth target and Wall Street shares dropped ahead of the release of key US economic indicators.

Tokyo and Hong Kong dipped at the open, a day after Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index hit a record high, closing above 40,000 points for the first time.

In China on Tuesday, leaders set a 2024 growth target of 5%, in line with last year’s GDP gains but well off the double-digit expansion that for years drove the world’s second-largest economy.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee recorded a marginal decline against the US dollar, depreciating 0.02% in the inter-bank market on Tuesday. At close, the local unit settled at 279.31, a loss of Re0.05, against the greenback, as per the State Bank of Pakistan.

Volume on the all-share index decreased to 396.59 million from 472.86 million a session ago.

However, the value of shares improved to Rs16.59 billion from Rs16.28 billion in the previous session.

Kohinoor Spinning was the volume leader with 39.72 million shares, followed by Pak Refinery Limited with 34.05 million shares, and PTCL with 24.85 million shares.

Shares of 352 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 134 registered an increase, 204 recorded a fall, while 14 remained unchanged.