KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a volatile session on Thursday, with the indices failing to sustain gains accumulated earlier in the day, thus closing the session in the red.
Global equity markets, on the other hand, displayed a positive trend, whereas crude oil prices headed south from the last closing; WTI crude price declined by 0.07pc to $41.88, while Brent crude fell by 0.18pc to $44.00.
“The market opened on a positive note on Thursday, mainly on the back of buying activity in the banking sector,” said a report issued by AHL Ltd. “However, selling pressure in cement, steel, pharma and oil & gas exploration caused the market to erode all gains posted in early trade and plunge over 200 points.”
The benchmark KSE-100 Index shifted positions throughout the day, marking its intraday high of 38,106.95 (+302.34 points) and intraday low at 37,540.70 (-263.91 points). It settled lower by 226.40 points at 37,578.21.
Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index dropped 658.12 points or 1.08pc to end at 60,488.87, while the KSE All Share Index lost 139.55 points, closing at 26,762.56.
The overall market volumes declined from 404.98 million shares in the previous session to 379.28 million shares. Average traded value also declined by 21pc, from $106.2 million to $84 million. Unity Foods Limited (UNITY -1.25pc), Azgard Nine Limited (ANL +3.62pc) and Fauji Foods Limited (FFL +3.56pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 38.13 million, 31.22 million and 23.45 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that drove the benchmark index south included cement (-116.25 points), power generation & distribution (-35.99 points) and oil & gas exploration (-30.24 points). Among the companies, Lucky Cement Limited (LUCK 54.72 points), Hub Power Company Ltd (HUBC 35.68 points) and Pak Petroleum Ltd (PPL 25.33 points) dented the index the most.
Shedding 2.87pc from its cumulative market capitalization, the cement sector emerged as the biggest loser of the session, with Lucky Cement Limited (LUCK 3.36pc), DG Khan Cement Company Limited (DGKC 2.86pc), Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited (MLCF 4.01pc) and Bestway Cement Limited (BWCL 1.75pc) ending in the red.
