KARACHI: Bears took charge of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on the first trading session of the week, with the benchmark index shedding over 200 points amid lack of positive triggers.
“The market moved within a narrow range today, with profit booking mainly observed in exploration & production, fertilizer, oil & gas marketing, cement and banking sectors. Regression in international crude prices became the reason for negative sentiment in E&P sector, while continuous foreign selling pulled the fertilizer stocks down. Investors, in part, also saw Election Commission’s upcoming decision regarding foreign funding case as a reason for booking profit,” a report issued by Arif Habib Ltd read.
MARKET SUMMARY
The benchmark KSE-100 Index swayed both ways on Monday, registering its intraday high at 46,047.56 (+116.56 points) and low at 45,714.17 (-216.83 points). It finally settled lower by 204.32 points at 45,726.68.
Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index plunged 789.20 points to end at 72,952.78, while the KSE All Share Index fell short by 205.76 points, closing at 31,708.83.
The overall market volumes inched up from 531.01 million shares in the previous session to 543.59 million shares (+2pc). Average traded value, however, increased by 21pc, from $111.3 million to $134.9 million. TRG Pakistan Ltd (TRG +7.23pc), Fauji Foods Ltd (FFL +6.64pc) and K-Electric Ltd (KEL -3.10pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 47.59 million, 44.62 million and 33.01 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that drove the benchmark index south included oil & gas exploration (-114.74 points), oil & gas marketing (-34.13 points) and power generation & distribution (-31.85 points). Among the companies, Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (PPL -41.86 points), Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (OGDC -39.80 points) and Hub Power Company Ltd (HUBC -33.69 points) dented the index the most.
Shedding 2.16pc its cumulative market capitalization, the oil & gas exploration sector ended as the session’s worst performer, with OGDC (-2.37pc), Pakistan Oilfields Ltd (POL -2.16pc) and Mari Petroleum Company Ltd (MARI -0.67pc) ending in the negative.
Meanwhile, in a notification to the exchange, Cherat Cement Company Ltd (CHCC +0.15pc) announced that it has decided to “undertake BMR for cement line 1, besides installation of a main crusher”. The total cost of BMR of cement line 1 and installation of main crusher is approximately Rs3.5 billion, which will be financed through long-term loans.
