KARACHI: Selling pressure intensified at the stock exchange on the last day of the trading week, where the KSE-100 index tumbled by 246.96 points (0.62 per cent) to settle at 39,621.59. A little over Rs57 billion were wiped off the market capitalisation.

But things could have been worse as the shares fell like ninepins all through the day with the index hitting intraday low of 628 points. Investors seemed to be peeved over reports of Cabinet Committee on Privatisation giving app­roval to sale of up to 7pc government stake in Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) and 10pc in Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (PPL).

Losses for the last two days combined to snap the eight-week winning streak at the market. It was easy for the brutal bears to maul the tired bulls and knock down shares across the board. With all the good news having exhausted and replaced by some disturbing developments such as the Gas Infrastructure Develop­ment Cess (GIDC) and a revision of memorandums of understanding with Independent Power Producers, investors were spooked by the impact on future corporate profitability. They were also inclined to reduce positions because of the upcoming futures rollover week with heavy open positions.

Analysts at a major securities firm observed that mixed sentiment was seen in the exploration and production sector where OGDC and PPL closed in the green zone and Pakistan Oilfields shed values as concerns over the global economic recovery from Covid-19 mounts.

The volume was up 1pc over the previous day to 400m shares while traded value stood down 3pc to $81m. Leaders were mainly the second- and third-tier stocks which included Worldcall, Azgard Nine, TPL, Dewan Cement and Unity Foods.

Scrips that contributed most points to the index downside included PPL, falling 3.4pc, Hub Power 2.1pc, OGDC 2.3pc, Pakistan State Oil 2.5pc and Lucky Cement 0.7pc.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2020