LAHORE: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) opened the first trading session after the announcement of the Budget 2019 on a positive note. The positivity was however short lived and the indices declined into the red zone by end of the day. The earnings season came to a close after failing to be a positive trigger for the market.
The budget 2019 proposed to abolish tax on bonus shares and reduction in corporate tax. For the cement sector, it got a reduction in customs duty on import of coal and an extension of a tax credit on BMR and expansion. But the FED on cement shall rise. The steel sector will see an increase in GST electricity. The textile sector will have continuity of policies including the zero-rated status and financing rates.
The KSE 100 index, after elevating 299.28 points dropped 117.91 points to conclude the session lower by 53.92 points at 45,488.86. The KMI 30 index managed to pull up some gains and appreciated by 160.80 points to end at 77,027.88 and the KSE All Share Index was flat. The index settled lower by just 2.84 points at 32,980.77. The advancers-to-decliners ratio stood at 137 to 219.
The market volumes were higher from previous sessions 224.77 million to 248.57 million. The Bank of Punjab (BOP +7.51 per cent) dominated the volume chart by miles as investors exchanged 85.29 million shares of the script. Next on the chart but far behind was Lotte Chemical Pakistan Limited (LOTCHEM +5.43 per cent) who had a volume of 25.91 million followed by Unity Foods Limited (UNITY +4.98 per cent), volume 8.28 million, again a long distance behind.
Large sectors showed little movement. The commercial bank sector, the largest sector on the exchange by market capitalization, inched down by only 0.58 per cent. The oil and gas exploration sector cut off 0.13 per cent from its market cap. Other prominent sectors followed the same trend, cement sector up 0.60 per cent and fertilizer down 0.39 per cent.
