KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) fell flat on Tuesday, as investors adopted a cautious approach amid political uncertainty and rising coronavirus cases.
Global equity markets displayed a negative trend, whereas crude oil prices also slipped lower from the previous close; WTI crude price falling 0.35pc to $45.61 while Brent crude price declining 0.37pc to $48.61.
“Investors witnessed a choppy session today with the benchmark swaying both ways in search of a clear direction. Cement stocks rallied on the news of further investment in the sector in Punjab; however, late selling pressure brought the prices down. Banking sector performed relatively better with growing interest in NBP, MCB and UBL. International crude prices remained muted, resulting in consolidation in E&P stocks,” a report issued by Arif Habib Ltd read.
MARKET SUMMARY
The benchmark KSE-100 Index endured a volatile session on Tuesday, touching its intraday low at 41,948.35 (-166.96 points) and high at 42,233.96 (+118.65 points). It finally settled flat (-13.53 points) at 42,101.78.
Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index lost 57.76 points to close at 67,956.59, while the KSE All Share Index dropped 5.72 points, ending at 29,476.76.
The overall volumes jumped from 380.47 million shares in the previous session to 409.52 million shares (+8pc). Average traded value also increased by 3pc, from $111.8 million to $115.4 million. Maple Leaf Cement Factory Ltd (MLCF +4.26pc), Fauji Foods Ltd (FFL +4.22pc) and TRG Pakistan Ltd (TRG -1.62pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 31.70 million, 23.13 million and 22.55 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that dragged the benchmark index to the red included oil & gas exploration (-22.63 points), technology & communication (-15.22 points) and oil & gas marketing (-7.70 points). Among the companies, Pak Petroleum Ltd (-12.54 points), Systems Ltd (SYS -7.96 points) and Fauji Fertilizer Company Ltd (FFC -7.87 points) denoted the index the most.
Shedding 0.67pc from its cumulative market capitalisation, the technology & communication sector ended as the session’s worst performer, with Systems Ltd (SYS -2.20pc), TRG Pakistan Ltd (TRG -1.62pc) and Hum Network Ltd (HUMNL -1.88pc) closing in the negative.
