KARACHI: The benchmark index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange closed lower on Thursday even though the market opened on a positive note over a decline in international oil prices and the anticipation of $1.3 billion flood-related support from the World Bank.

Topline Securities said the initial positivity didn’t sustain as profit-taking made its way in the second half.

The rupee’s depreciation and a delay in the review of the International Monetary Fund loan programme also hurt investors’ confidence and led the benchmark to close in the red, noted Arif Habib Ltd.

As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 42,819.72 points, down 164 points or 0.38 per cent from the preceding session.

The trading volume decreased 2.9pc to 181.2 million shares while the traded value went down 7.7pc to $27.7m on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included BankIslami Pakistan Ltd (17.1m shares), Unity Foods Ltd (11.6m shares), Telecard Ltd (11.5m shares), Ghani Chemical Ltd (11m shares) and WorldCall Telecom Ltd (10.6m shares).

Sectors that contributed to the index performance were technology and communication (-28 points), oil and gas marketing (-27.1 points), exploration and production (-25.2 points), food and personal care products (-18.8 points), vanaspati and allied industries (-12.6 points).

Companies registering the biggest increase in their share prices in absolute terms were Sapphire Fibres Ltd (Rs80.31), Sapphire Textile Mills Ltd (Rs76.85), Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan Ltd (Rs74.99), Reliance Cotton Spinning Mills Ltd (Rs46.96) and Shield Corporation Ltd (Rs18).

Shares that declined the most in rupee terms were Rafhan Maize Products Company Ltd (Rs350), Nestle Pakistan Ltd (Rs145), Mehmood Textile Mills Ltd (Rs61), Gatron Industries Ltd (Rs30.06) and Bata Pakistan Ltd (Rs20).

Foreign investors were net buyers on Thursday as they purchased shares worth 0.27m.

Published in Dawn, November 18th, 2022