KARACHI: Bears dominated Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday, with the benchmark KSE-100 index failing to sustain early gains, plunging nearly 300 points intraday.
Global equity markets, on the other hand, showed a positive trend, whereas crude oil prices also moved north from the previous close; WTI crude price appreciating 2.85pc to $60.24, while Brent crude oil price rising 2.58pc to $63.55 (as at 4:54pm PST).
“Last day of the rollover week saw the market turning negative. Confirmation of amendments to the income tax ordinance (withdrawal of Rs140 billion tax exemptions) had a bearing on steel, cement, fertilizer, O&GMCs, whereas banking sector stocks also went down due to overall selling pressure,” a report issued by Arif Habib Ltd read.
MARKET SUMMARY
The benchmark KSE-100 Index moved in a narrow range today, registering its intraday high at 45,757.56 (+31.40 points) and low at 45,436.91 (-289.25 points). It settled lower by 204.54 points at 45,521.63.
Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index dropped 465.01 points to end at 74,401.43, while the KSE All Share Index lost 129.71 points, closing at 31,054.89.
The overall market volumes appreciated from 470.38 million shares on Thursday to 528.41 million shares (+12pc). Average traded value, on the contrary, declined 3pc, from $167 million to $162.9 million. Byco Petroleum Pakistan Ltd (BYCO +4.91pc), Pakistan Refinery Ltd (PRL +7.22pc) and Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTC +0.30pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 83.19 million, 56.41 million and 39.61 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that dragged the benchmark index lower included banking (-91.08 points), cement (-71.01 points) and oil & gas exploration (-45.61 points). Among the companies, Habib Bank Ltd (HBL -53.39 points), Pakistan State Oil Company Ltd (PSO -27.21 points) and Bank AL Habib Ltd (BAHL -24.78 points) dented the index the most.
Shedding 1.41pc from its cumulative market capitalization, the cement sector ended as the session’s worst performer, with Lucky Cement Ltd (LUCK -0.87pc), Bestway Cement Ltd (BWCL 1.27pc) and DG Khan Cement Company Ltd (DGKC 2.02pc) closing in the negative.
Meanwhile, in a notification to the exchange, Avanceon Ltd (AVN -0.64pc) informed that it has signed a new three-year licence agreement with Dover Fueling Solutions (DFS), which is part of the Dover Corporation. The company will provide DFS wetstock management services in Pakistan.
