KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed another bloodbath on Monday, as with the benchmark index losing over 1,000 points intraday amid persistent selling pressure.
Global equity markets depicted a mixed pattern, whereas crude oil prices headed north from the previous close; WTI crude price surging 4.45pc to $38.70 while Brent crude price appreciating 4.05pc to $40.85.
“The release of monthly inflation data over the weekend, coupled with the overall political uncertainty in the country, caused panic among investors,” said a report issued by AHL Ltd. “Selling activity was observed almost across the board, with major contribution from exploration & production, banks and oil & gas marketing sectors.”
MARKET SUMMARY
The KSE-100 remained in the red zone throughout the day, recording its intraday low at 38,865.10 after shedding 1,205.73 points. It closed lower by 998.36 points at 39,072.47.
Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index plunged 1,607.37 points to end at 61,787.45, while the KSE All Share Index dropped 780.14 points, settling at 27,794.70.
The overall market volumes increased from 348.6 million shares in the previous session to 409.9 million shares (+18pc). Average traded value, however, declined by 1pc, from $75.6 million to $76.5 million. Hascol Petroleum Ltd (HASCOL -7.48pc), Unity Foods Ltd (UNITY -7.29pc) and K-Electric Ltd (KEL -7.18pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 60.43 million shares, 31.98 million shares and 29.16 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that painted the benchmark index red included banking (-130.41 points), power generation & distribution (-112.80 points) and fertilizer (-110.66 points). Among the companies, Hub Power Company Ltd (HUBC -74.21 points), Engro Corporation Ltd (ENGRO -56.28 points) and Pak Petroleum Ltd (PPL -49.77 points) dented the index the most.
Shedding 5.15pc from its cumulative market capitalization, the power generation & distribution sector ended as the session’s top loser, with K-Electric Ltd (KEL -7.18pc), Hub Power Company Ltd (HUBC -4.29pc) and Kot Addu Power Company Limited (KAPCO -6.90pc) posting significant losses.
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