KARACHI: Share prices on the Pakistan Stock Exchange dropped on Fri­day owing to the ongoing political tension arising out of the assassination attempt on former premier Imran Khan.

Arif Habib Ltd said the index tanked as soon as the opening bell rang and then kept losing ground throughout the day. The growing political conflict made investors shy away from the equity market and dried up volumes across the board.

JS Global said profit-taking by investors also dragged the index down. It recommended that investors should remain cautious at the current level and wait for fresh buying.

As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 41,856.31 points, down 234.4 points or 0.56 per cent from the preceding session.

The trading volume decreased 8.5pc to 298.1 million shares while the traded value went down 24.2pc to $24.6m on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included WorldCall Telecom Ltd (73.1m shares), Hascol Petroleum Ltd (73.1m shares), Sui Southern Gas Company Ltd (9.3m shares), Dewan Cement Ltd (8.7m shares) and Cnergyico PK Ltd (8.4m shares).

Sectors that contributed negatively to the index performance were technology and communication (55.4 points), cement (55.8 points), commercial banking (22.3 points), exploration and production (23.7 points) and pharmaceutical (25.3 points).

Companies registering the biggest increase in their share prices in absolute terms were Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan Ltd (Rs45.95), Pakistan Tobacco Company Ltd (Rs18), Bata Pakistan Ltd (Rs18), Premium Textile Mills Ltd (Rs14.49) and AKD Hospitality Ltd (Rs12.17).

Shares that declined the most in rupee terms were Abbott Laboratories Pak­istan Ltd (Rs44.62), Ismail Industries Ltd (Rs36.75), Siemens Pakistan Engin­eering Ltd (Rs28.94), Meh­mood Textile Mills Ltd (Rs20) and the Thal Indus­tries Corporation Ltd (Rs14.14).

Foreign investors remai­ned net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $0.01m.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2022