The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Index snapped its 11-session winning streak on Tuesday, closing lower by 200 points after the index hit 50,000 during intra-day trading.
The index crossed 50,000 level after six years amid ongoing results season and some improvement in economic indicators. However, profit-taking erased the gains and pushed the index into the negative territory.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 49,531.01, down by 200.34 points or 0.40%.
“The 50,000 level was crossed after over six years i.e. last seen on June 07, 2017,” said Arif Habib Limited (AHL), a brokerage house, in a note.
A mixed trend was witnessed in the index-heavy sectors, including automobile assemblers, commercial banks, cement, chemical, OMCs and oil and gas exploration companies.
On Monday, the PSX continued its upward trajectory for the 11th straight session, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index reaching near 50,000 level in the intra-day trading, before closing at 49,731.35 points.
Another brokerage house Topline Securities said trading on Tuesday commenced on a positive note as investors continued their cherry picking. “However, as expected, once the KSE-100 index hit 50k mark, profit taking kicked off and compelled the benchmark index to close the day on a negative note.”
Apart from profit-taking, the brokerage house added, another likely reason of aforesaid market action could be the rupee’s depreciation, which came after continuous winning streak of 28 straight sessions.
The rupee depreciated 0.07% in the inter-bank market on Tuesday.
The local currency had cumulatively gained 10.93% since it hit a record low of 307.1 in inter-bank market on Sept 5.
Sana Tawfik, an analyst at AHL, said the rupee’s appreciation against the dollar was a key reason driving the upward trajectory.
“Moreover, ongoing results season is also driving the bullish run, as the market expects good results, especially from the banking sector,” Tawfik said.
The market expects that the upcoming current account figures would also be in surplus, which would improve the liquidity position, she added. “Moreover, the inflation rate is also projected to move downward in the coming month.”
Volume on the all-share index decreased to 368.34 million from 467.38 million a day before.
The value of shares traded declined to Rs10.4 billion from Rs14.1 billion in the previous session.
K-Electric Ltd. remained the volume leader with 65.95 million shares, followed by Pak Int.Bulk with 21.5 million shares and Maple Leaf with 20.66 million shares.
Shares of 347 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 149 registered an increase, 186 recorded a fall, and 12 remained unchanged.