KARACHI: Trading opened on the Pakistan Stock Exchange on a positive note on Friday as the benchmark posted an intraday high of 201 points.

But the index came under selling pressure soon afterwards. According to Topline Securities, the pressure on stocks was a result of the yields on Pakistan’s dollar bonds registering a notable increase after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appealed for debt relief from rich nations.

Arif Habib Corporation analyst Ahsan Mehanti said the Ministry of Planning’s assessment that flood-related losses amount to $30 billion, dismal data for the large-scale manufacturing output and declining foreign direct investment played the role of a catalyst in the stock market’s bearish close.

JS Global said investors should look for buying opportunities in the banking, exploration and production and cement sectors going forward.

As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 40,620.21 points, down 307.74 points or 0.75pc from the preceding session.

The trading volume decreased 13.5pc to 164.4 million shares while the traded value went up 8.6pc to $28.6m on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Hascol Petroleum Company Ltd (29.82m shares), TRG Pakistan Ltd (23.89m shares), K-Electric Ltd (11.85m shares), Cnergyico PK Ltd (9.5m shares) and WorldCall Telecom Ltd (6.43m shares).

Sectors that contributed negatively to the index performance were banking (112.1 points), cement (38.4 points), power (36.2 points), technology (31.4 points) and fertiliser (30.3 points).

Companies registering the biggest increase in their share prices in absolute terms were Rafhan Maize Products Company Ltd (Rs679), Sapphire Fibres Ltd (Rs91.50), Sapphire Textile Mills Ltd (Rs74), Nestle Pakistan Ltd (Rs55) and Fazal Cloth Mills Ltd (Rs15.90).

Shares that declined the most in rupee terms were Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan Ltd (Rs92.17), Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan Ltd (Rs22.98), Sitara Chemical Industries Ltd (Rs17.96), Lucky Cement Ltd (Rs8.58) and Service Industries Ltd (Rs5.96).

Foreign investors remained net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $0.25m.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2022