KARACHI: The Pak­istan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed another bloodbath on Wednesday amid political noise, with the benchmark index shedding 661.30 points (1.51 per cent) to 43,221.78 points.

According to Topline Securities, the selling spree continued on the PSX as the market opened on a positive note and made an intraday high of 44,172 points (up 0.66pc). However, the controversy around the appointment of the top spy at the country’s premier intelligence agency caused selling pressure and led the index to close at 43,222 points.

Market participation decreased 12.3pc to 354.9 million shares on a day-on-day basis.

Sectors contributed negatively to the PSX’s performance included technology (184.51 points), cement (107.09 points), oil and gas exploration (65.86 points), banking (44.92 points), and food and personal care (39.2 points).

Stocks that contributed significantly to the traded volume included Hascol Petroleum (36.7m shares), WorldCall Telecom Ltd (28.86m shares), TeleCard Ltd (17m shares), Ghani Global Holdings (16.6m shares) and TRG Pakistan Ltd (16.26m shares).

Stocks that contributed positively to the index included Allied Bank Ltd (16.40 points), Habib Bank Ltd (16.07 points), Hub Power Company (15.53 points), Fauji Fertiliser Company (5.67 points) and Faysal Bank Ltd (4.79 points).

Shares that contributed negatively included TRG Pakistan (110.31 points), Systems Ltd (63.43 points points), United Bank Ltd (41.29 points), Lucky Cement Ltd (28.12 points) and Engro Corporation (24.30 points).

As for the major corporate announcements, Engro Fertilisers Ltd posted quarterly earnings per share of Rs3.30, down 37.37pc from a year ago, along with a dividend per share of Rs3.50.

“Looking forward, investors are advised to stay cautious and build portfolio only on major dips across the board keeping a medium-term horizon in mind,” said a note by JS Global.

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2021