KARACHI: The stock market remained range-bound throughout the trading session on Thursday as investors opted for profit-taking.
The benchmark index opened in the green zone but profit-taking pulled it down by 286 points, said Arif Habib Ltd. Refinery and cement sectors were in the limelight. Analysts blamed the recent reversal in the dollar rate movement, which resumed its upward journey after many sessions in which the local currency gained strength.
The rupee depreciated 0.03 per cent to close at 214.95 in interbank trading on Thursday.
Investors worried about the rupee coming under increased pressure after Finance Minister Miftah Ismail announced on Thursday the government was lifting the ban on the import of non-essential and luxury items — a move aimed at ensuring compliance with the conditions of the International Monetary Fund and other international agreements.
JS Global asked its clients to focus on shares belonging to banking, exploration and production and textile sectors.
As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 43,481.50 points, down 195.06 points or 0.45pc from a day ago.
The trading volume increased 2.2pc to 621.2 million shares while the traded value went down 5.7pc to $48.8m on a day-on-day basis.
Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included WorldCall Telecom Ltd (170.78m shares), Cnergyico PK Ltd (62.88m shares), K-Electric Ltd (58.04m shares), Pakistan Refinery Ltd (41.24m shares) and Pakistan International Airlines Ltd (19.14m shares).
Sectors contributing to the index performance included technology (-59.2 points), fertiliser (-33.3 points), exploration and production (-27 points), power (-21.8 points) and engineering (-18.8 points).
Companies registering the biggest increase in their share prices in absolute terms were Bata Pakistan Ltd (Rs54.89), Gatron Industries Ltd (Rs26.58), Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan Ltd (Rs25), Reliance Cotton Spinning Mills Ltd (Rs20) and Pakistan Services Ltd (Rs14).
Shares that declined the most in rupee terms were Rafhan Maize Products Company Ltd (Rs539.99), Sanofit-Aventis Pakistan Ltd (Rs79), Sapphire Textile Mills Ltd (Rs74.22), Indus Motor Company Ltd (Rs16.16) and Fazal Cloth Mills Ltd (Rs15.99).
Foreign investors were net buyers as they purchased shares worth $0.1m.
Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2022
Dear visitor, the comments section is undergoing an overhaul and will return soon.