KARACHI: Bears dominated the Pakistan Stock Exchange for the third straight day on Wednesday amid the upcoming announcement of a mini-budget ahead of the resumption of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme.

According to JS Global, selling pressure persisted throughout the session partly because of the upcoming removal of general sales tax exemptions as well as concerns over the rollover settlement.

As a result, the KSE-100 index lost 584.82 points (or 1.3 per cent) to close at 44,363.7 points.

Market participation increased 17.3pc to 310.38 million shares while the value of traded shares rose 33.1pc to Rs12.94 billion.

Sectors taking away the highest number of points from the benchmark index included commercial banking (159 points), fertiliser (123.76 points), cement (117.79 points), pharmaceutical (48.74 points) and oil and gas marketing (33.1 points).

Stocks that contributed significantly to the traded volume included TRG Pakistan Ltd (26.52m shares), WorldCall Telecom Ltd (24.68m shares), TPL Properties Ltd (24.08m shares), TeleCard Ltd (15.43m shares) and Byco Petroleum Ltd (14.78m shares).

Stocks that contributed positively to the index included Systems Ltd (33.77 points), United Bank Ltd (25.95 points), TRG Pakistan Ltd (19.74 points), Mari Petroleum Ltd (18 points) and Kot Addu Power Company Ltd (9.27 points).

Shares that contributed negatively included Systems Ltd (75.94 points), Engro Corporation Ltd (65.71 points), Habib Bank Ltd (55.37 points), Fauji Fertiliser Ltd (51.98 points) and MCB Bank Ltd (40.95 points).

Stocks recording the biggest declines in percentage terms included Yousaf Weaving Mills Ltd, which went down 6.46pc, followed by Kohinoor Textile Mills Ltd (6.42pc), AGP Ltd (6.03pc), Pakistan Tobacco Company Ltd (5.91pc) and The Searle Company Ltd (5.67pc).

Foreign investors remained net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $12.26m on a net basis.

“A cautious approach is advised as the market is likely to face further pressure in the coming sessions — an overhang of pre-conditions related to the IMF programme continues to dent the sentiments,” said JS Global.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2021