BRIndex100 stays bearish

A bearish trend continued on Pakistan Stock Exchange due to selling, mainly by local investors on Friday, the last day of the current trading week. BRIndex100 lost 37.19 points or 0.77 percent to close at 4,795.37 points. BRIndex100 touched intraday high of 4,832.56 and intraday low of 4,753.77 points. Volumes stood at 256.174 million shares. BRIndex30 decreased by 99.99 points or 0.4 percent to 24,894.91 points with a turnover of 199.906 million shares.
The benchmark KSE-100 index declined by 265.58 points to 44,551.13 points. Trading activity also improved as daily volumes on the ready counter increased to 270.755 million shares as compared to 245.726 million shares traded Thursday. Foreign investors however remained net buyers of shares worth $0.5 million. The market capitalization decreased by Rs 28 billion to Rs 9.217 trillion. Out of total 357 active scrips, 179 closed in negative, 149 in positive while the value of 29 stocks remained unchanged.
K-Electric was the volume leader with 39.164 million shares. It gained Re 0.11 to close at Rs 6.89 followed by Bank of Punjab that inched up by Re 0.09 to close at Rs 9.94 with 19.448 million shares. Khyber Tobacco and Sitara Chemical were the top gainers with Rs 46.03 and Rs 17.35, respectively to close at Rs 1,012.97 and Rs 364.39. Shezan International and Hinopak Motor were the top losers with Rs 28.05 and Rs 23.76, respectively to close at Rs 532.95 and Rs 1,127.34.
BR Commercial Banks Index declined by 171.14 points or 1.88 percent to close at 8,919.61 points with total turnover of 27.354 million shares. BR Cement Index lost 30.94 points or 0.49 percent to close at 6,264.04 points with 37.048 million shares. BR Oil and Gas Index gained 8.68 points or 0.16 percent to close at 5,277.87 points with 10.054 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index inched up by 7.88 points or 0.66 percent to close at 1,209.69 points with 16.242 million shares. BR Power Generation and Distribution Index closed at 6,667.27 points, up 13.38 points or 0.2 percent with 41.306 million shares. Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said that the stock closed bearish after Fitch Credit Rating Agency revises outlook on Pakistan's ratings to negative from stable. Pressure remained in scrips across the board on concerns for foreign outflows and falling FX reserves. He said dismal financial results, likely status quo in SBP policy rate decision and economic uncertainty amid dismal external account data for July-December 2017 played a catalyst role in bearish close at PSX.