KARACHI: Bears continued to dominate the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index falling below the 44,000-mark mainly due to economic and political uncertainty.
Global equity markets, on the other hand, showed a positive pattern, whereas crude oil prices continued with the uptrend; WTI crude price appreciating 0.97pc to $65.69 while Brent crude price rising 1.14pc to $69.02 (as at 3:56pm PST).
“The market received another thrashing from investors today, mainly on the back of rising inflation and political uncertainty. In line with the usual practice, institutional investors faced redemptions from investors, which resulted in the offloading of recently bought positions, especially in cement and steel sectors,” a report issued by Arif Habib Ltd read. Expectation of an increase in inflation leading to a hike in monetary policy has recently caused havoc among investors looking for safe haven stocks. Resultantly, power sector saw gradual accumulation, particularly KAPCO & HUBC, while banking sector also saw brisk buying with limited price gains.”
MARKET SUMMARY
The benchmark KSE-100 Index remained in the red for almost the entire session, registering its intraday low at 43,946.30 after shedding 1,104.76 points. It settled lower by 828.15 points at 44,222.91.
Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index plunged 1,835.25 points to close at 73,074.05, while the KSE All Share Index dropped 582.39 points, ending at 30,382.52.
The overall market volumes improved from 459.82 million shares in the previous session to 491.70 million shares (+7pc). Average traded value, however, declined 5pc, from $157.6 million to $149.2 million. Ghani Global Holdings (GGL +7.46pc), Unity Foods Ltd (UNITY -7.26pc) and TRG Pakistan Ltd (TRG -6.33pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 41.23 million, 33.32 million and 25.50 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that dragged the benchmark index lower included cement (-191.02 points), technology & communication (-145.78 points) and oil & gas exploration (-74.06 points). Among the companies, TRG Pakistan Ltd (TRG -92.23 points), Systems Ltd (SYS -49.43 points) and DG Khan Cement Company Ltd (DGKC -47.02 points) dented the index the most.
Shedding 6.14pc from its cumulative market capitalization, the refinery sector ended as the session’s worst performer, with Attock Refinery Ltd (ATRL -7.50pc), Pakistan Refinery Ltd (PRL -6.79pc), National Refinery Ltd (NRL -5.64pc) and Byco Petroleum Pakistan Ltd (BYCO -5.75pc) posting significant losses.
