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KARACHI: Bears pulled down the benchmark index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Wednesday owing to rising political confrontation.
The bloodbath on the trading floor took place as former prime minister Imran Khan unveiled his plan for holding his long march to Islamabad by the weekend, said Arif Habib Ltd.
The announcement shook investors’ confidence and pulled down the index to an intraday low of 699.9 points as soon as trading began. Volumes recorded in main-board stocks were decent as third-tier stocks continued to stay in the limelight.
JS Global said the uncertain political situation exerted selling pressure across the board. It expects the stock market to continue its downward trend going forward. “Investors should avail this downside as an opportunity to accumulate positions in blue-chip stocks,” it added.
As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 41,540.03 points, down 650 points or 1.54 per cent from the preceding session.
The trading volume increased 35.8pc to 265.4 million shares while the traded value went up 23pc to $35m on a day-on-day basis.
Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included WorldCall Telecom Ltd (35.4m shares), G3 Technologies Ltd-Class B (14.5m shares), K-Electric Ltd (12.3m shares), TRG Pakistan Ltd (11.7m shares) and Hascol Petroleum Ltd (11.7m shares).
Sectors that contributed negatively to the index performance were cement (103.4 points), technology and communication (89.7 points), exploration and production (81.2 points), power generation and distribution (77.2 points) and fertiliser (53.6 points).
Companies registering the biggest increase in their share prices in absolute terms were Rafhan Maize Products Company Ltd (Rs800), Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan Ltd (Rs54.90), Gatron Industries Ltd (Rs26.95), Sapphire Fibres Ltd (Rs24.45) and Premium Textile Mills Ltd (Rs19.60).
Shares that declined the most in rupee terms were Reliance Cotton Spinning Mills Ltd (Rs29), Mari Petroleum Company Ltd (Rs28.84), Millat Tractors Ltd (Rs19.91), Murree Brewery Company Ltd (Rs19.08) and Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan Ltd (Rs14.18).
Foreign investors remained net buyers as they purchased shares worth $0.5m.
Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2022
