KARACHI: Bears continued to dominate the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) for the third consecutive session of the week, with the KSE-100 Index failing to hold on to early gains and falling below the 44,000 mark.
Global equity markets showed a mixed performance, whereas crude oil prices inched up from the previous close; WTI crude price appreciating 0.33pc to $64.21 while Brent crude oil price rising 0.07pc to $67.57 (as at 4:12pm PST).
“The market continued with the downtrend on Wednesday, mainly due to the government’s proposal to withdraw corporate tax exemption in the wake of IMF programme, political uncertainty, increase in electricity tariff and deferment of increase in petroleum prices. Redemptions from mutual funds and insurance companies maintained the selling pressure on stocks,” a report issued by Arif Habib Ltd read.
MARKET SUMMARY
The benchmark KSE-100 Index endured a volatile session on Wednesday, recording its intraday high at 44,424.04 (+201.13 points) and low at 43,620.84 (-602.07 points). It settled lower by 531.23 points at 43,691.68.
Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index declined 839.75 points to close at 72,234.30, while the KSE All Share Index dropped 344.44 points, ending at 30,038.08.
The overall market volumes contracted from 492.29 million shares in the previous session to 363.20 million shares (-26pc). Average traded value also declined by 10pc, from $149.1 million to $134.5 million. TRG Pakistan Ltd (TRG -5.16pc), Unity Foods Ltd (UNITY -5.33pc) and Ghani Global Holdings (GGL +4.77pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 38.16 million, 25.04 million and 19.18 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that drove the benchmark index south included technology & communication (-129.92 points), cement (-59.77 points) and fertilizer (-51.88 points). Among the companies, TRG Pakistan Ltd (TRG -76.12 points), Systems Ltd (SYS -52.01 points) and Lucky Cement Ltd (LUCK -42.57 points) dented the index the most.
Shedding 5pc from its cumulative market capitilisation, the technology & communication sector ended as the session’s worst performer, with Systems Ltd (SYS -6.70pc), NetSol Technologies Ltd (NETSOL -5.73pc) and Telecard Ltd (TELE -4.91pc) posting significant losses.
