KARACHI: The benchmark index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange remained under pressure on Thursday on account of political uncertainty.
Topline Securities said share prices faced pressure as opposition leader Imran Khan announced the launch of a fresh movement to force the government to call early elections.
However, some recovery in stock prices was observed in the last hours of trading as the former prime minister apologised before the Islamabad High Court in a contempt of court case.
JS Global asserted that the continued rupee depreciation also played a part in the bearish spell on the stock exchange for the fourth consecutive session this week. The dollar rate closed at 239.71 in the interbank market after increasing 0.03 per cent from a day ago. “We recommend investors should stay cautious at current levels and wait for dips for any fresh buying,” it added.
As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 40,927.95 points, down 37.63 points or 0.09pc from the preceding session.
The trading volume increased 11.5pc to 190 million shares while the traded value went up 30.9pc to $26.4m on a day-on-day basis.
Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included WorldCall Telecom Ltd (19.95m shares), Cnergyico PK Ltd (18.59m shares), TRG Pakistan Ltd (17.56m shares), K-Electric Ltd (12.52m shares) and Silkbank Ltd (11.21m shares).
Sectors that contributed to the negative performance of index were banking (-19.3 points), automobile (-16.3 points), investment banking (-11.6 points), pharmaceutical (-11.3 points) and power (-11.2 points).
Companies registering the biggest increase in their share prices in absolute terms were Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan Ltd (Rs79), Sapphire Fibres Ltd (Rs71.93), Ibrahim Fibres Ltd (Rs11), Al-Abbas Sugar Mills Ltd (Rs8.99) and Khyber Tobacco Company Ltd (Rs8.35).
Shares that declined the most in rupee terms were Rafhan Maize Products Company Ltd (Rs595), Hallmark Company Ltd (Rs13.50), Fazal Cloth Mills Ltd (Rs12.15), Millat Tractors Ltd (Rs11.16) and Abbott Laboratories Ltd (Rs11.03).
Foreign investors remained net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $0.14m.
Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2022
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