KARACHI: It was a dull start to the week at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) where the indices traded within a narrow range before closing the session in the red.
Foreign investors closed preceding week (December 2-6) as net buyers with a net inflow of $1.06 million.
On the economic front, Pakistan has signed a $1.30 billion loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank. Out of the total loan, $1 billion has been earmarked for budgetary support while $300 million has been set aside for energy sector reforms.
Gaining 184.14 points, the KSE-100 index recorded its intraday high at 40,916.39 during the initial trading hours. The index then slid to its day’s low at 40,314.94 after losing 417.31 points. It closed lower by 289.45 points at 40,442.80. The KMI-30 Index declined by 205.45 points to settle at 64,005.04, whereas the KSE All Share Index fell short by 79.85 points, ending at 28,783.59. Out of the total traded scripts, 136 advanced, 217 declined while the value of 18 remained unchanged.
The overall trading volumes remained decent and were recorded at 320.08 million, of which 217.62 million came from the KSE-100 scripts. Unity Foods Limited (UNITY -4.80pc) topped the volume chart, followed by Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited (MLCF +0.37pc) and Lotte Chemical Pakistan Limited (LOTCHEM +0.86pc). the scripts had exchanged 26.85 million, 18.77 million and 15.40 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that drove the KSE-100 Index south included banking (-152.08 points), cement (-64.50 points) and oil and gas marketing (-57.62 points). Among the companies, United Bank Limited (UBL -60.01 points), Habib Bank Limited (HBL -37.19 points) and Lucky Cement Limited (LUCK -34.67 points) dented the index the most.
The automobile assembling sector lost 2.18pc in its cumulative market capitalization. Honda Atlas Cars (Pakistan) Limited (HCAR -5.00pc) and Pakistan Suzuki Motors Company Limited (PSMC -5.00pc) touched their lower locks, while Millat Tractors Limited (MTL -1.76pc), Indus Motor Company Limited (INDU -1.73pc) and Hinopak Motors Limited (HINO -1.80pc) also ended negatively.
