KARACHI: The main equity index opened in the green zone on Wednesday as the rupee snapped its losing streak against the dollar.
According to Arif Habib Ltd, the stock market received a boost as the rupee gained Rs3.80 in the interbank market a day after the government secured the much-anticipated deal with the International Monetary Fund.
However, the appreciation in the rupee’s value proved short-lived as the local currency closed at 211.93, down 0.21 per cent from a day ago.
Investors opted for profit-taking in the last trading hour, which led the index to close in the red zone. JS Global said investors should stay cautious because the range-bound activity will likely continue in coming days.
The KSE-100 index settled at 42,458.14 points, down 67.81 points or 0.16pc from a day ago.
The trading volume decreased 11.5pc to 266.1 million shares while the traded value went down 10.6pc to $40m on a day-on-day basis.
Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Pakistan Refinery Ltd (23.87m shares), TPL Properties Ltd (23.15m shares), Cnergyico PK Ltd (16.79m shares), Ghani Global Ltd (11.78m shares) and Unity Foods Ltd (11.47m shares).
Sectors that took away the highest number of points from the benchmark index included cement (39.65 points), technology and communication (28.22 points), oil and gas exploration (21.44 points), oil and gas marketing (18.67 points) and pharmaceutical (11.57 points).
Shares contributing most negatively to the index included Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan Ltd (19.53 points), Pakistan Oilfields Ltd (17.99 points), Meezan Bank Ltd (16.78 points), Lucky Cement Ltd (14.41 points) and TRG Pakistan Ltd (13.76 points).
Stocks that contributed most positively to the index included Fauji Fertiliser Company Ltd (51.93 points), MCB Bank Ltd (27.44 points), Bank AL Habib Ltd (26.53 points), Pakistan Tobacco Company Ltd (17.99 points) and Lotte Chemical Pakistan (10.38 points).
Foreign investors were net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $1.06m.
Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2022
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