Market watch: Benchmark KSE-100 index drops 392.06 points to close at 44,913.57
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) turned bearish on Monday due to law and order situation as well as strike call given by religious groups and the benchmark KSE-100 Index shed 392 points (-0.87 percent) to close at 44,913.57 points.
The KSE-100 Index opened on a negative note and dropped by almost 694 points. The index remained negative throughout the session, touching intra-day low of 44,611.8 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 191.42 points (-0.62 percent) to close at 30,530.87 points, while All Share Islamic Index shed 104.45 points (-0.47 percent) to close at 22,108.01 points.
A total of 379 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of them shares of 109 closed up, shares of 255 closed down while shares of 15 companies remained unchanged.
The overall market volumes increased by 189.58 million to 363.10 million shares, while market capitalisation decreased by Rs52.87 billion. The number of total trades increased by 41,791 to 111,482, and value traded increased by Rs3.97 billion to Rs12.71 billion.
Among scrips, WTL topped the volumes with 101.4 million shares, followed by BYCO (24.2 million) and TRG (23.4 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include WTL, BYCO, TRG, GGL and TELE, which formed 52 percent of total volumes.
The sectors which turned the index to the south included technology & communication with 128 points, commercial banks with 54 points, power generation & distribution with 36 points, textile composite with 33 points and cement with 30 points.
The most points taken off the index was by TRG which stripped the index of 126 points followed by HUBC with 31 points, FFC with 22 points, HBL with 19 points and PSO with 16 points.
The sectors propping up the index were fertilizer with 8 points, synthetic & rayon with 2 points, and close–end mutual fund, real estate investment trust and miscellaneous with one point each.
The most points added to the index was by MARI which contributed 29 points followed by EFERT with 21 points, ENGRO with 17 points, ABOT with 8 points and HCAR with 7 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that following the turmoil developed over the weekend on the law and order front, the KSE-100 index dropped by 694 points during the session; however, recovered roundabout 600 points afterwards. They said that taking charge by the new finance minister helped boost investors’ confidence; however, selling pressure kept the recovery in the index in check.
Among the fertilizer sector, EFERT announced financial results on Monday with a healthy dividend payout that helped the stock perform. Furthermore, amid ongoing earnings season, EPCL, MARI and EFERT announced their financial results for 3QFY21, which also affected investors’ sentiments for today, they further said
