KSE-100 closes marginally lower after volatile trading

The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Index closed marginally lower in a volatile session on Tuesday.

The KSE-100 started the session positive, hitting an intra-day high of 77,930.04.

However, it faced both bullish and bearish pressures in the latter hours before closing the day in the red.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 77,745.52, down by 84.82 points or 0.11%.

“The equity market ended the day relatively flat. The benchmark index remained volatile throughout the session,” brokerage house Ismail Iqbal Securities said in its post-market report.

Fertiliser, power generation and distribution, and cement sectors were major laggards in Tuesday’s session, while banks, autos, and pharma sectors contributed positively.

“Today’s confounded market behavior can be ascribed to absence of any positive trigger which can assist market to have strong sentiments,” another brokerage house Topline Securities said.

On Monday, the KSE-100 fell below the 78,000-point mark as a positive start to the trading session made way for selling pressure that even dragged the index close to the 77,500 level.

Globally, European and Asian stock markets fluctuated on Tuesday as investors trod carefully ahead of a key speech by US Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell that could provide more hints of an interest rate cut.

With recent data indicating the US economy remains in good shape as inflation slows and the labour market softens, there is widespread expectation the bank will finally start unwinding its long-running programme of tight monetary policy next month.

A slew of earnings from US stores Target, Lowe’s and TJX are also on tap this week, providing more insight into the confidence of consumers after reassuring retail sales figures last week.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee registered minor improvement, appreciating 0.04% against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Tuesday. At close, the currency settled at 278.34, a gain of Re0.10 against the US dollar.

Volume on the all-share index decreased to 380.72 million from 471.75 million on Monday.

The value of shares also declined massively to Rs11.24 billion from Rs16.92 billion in the previous session.

Kohinoor Spinning was the volume leader with 101.86 million shares, followed by Yousuf Weaving with 35.81 million shares, and Flying Cement with 17.47 million shares changing hands.

Shares of 446 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 196 registered an increase, 183 recorded a fall, while 67 remained unchanged.