KARACHI: Stocks had a bearish close on Friday as investors reacted to the delayed talks between the International Monetary Fund and Pakistan for the next review of the loan programme along with dismal data on textile exports and a falling rupee.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti said news reports suggesting the Ministry of Finance disapproving the Petroleum Division’s circular debt management plan coupled with a slump in global stocks and crude oil prices also played the role of a catalyst in the bearish close.

Arif Habib Ltd held the ongoing political chaos responsible for the investors’ low participation in the stock market.

As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 42,730.24 points, down 89.48 points or 0.21 per cent from the preceding session.

The trading volume increased 4.4pc to 189.3 million shares while the traded value went down 18pc to $22.7m on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Unity Foods Ltd (58.8m shares), WorldCall Telecom Ltd (14.8m shares), Hascol Petroleum Ltd (9.8m shares), Ghani Chemical Ltd (9.6m shares) and Fauji Cement Ltd (6m shares).

Sectors that contributed negatively to the index performance were commercial banking (27.4 points), technology and communication (24.3 points), exploration and production (22.4 points), textile composite (12 points) and vanaspati and allied industries (8.2 points).

Companies registering the biggest increase in their share prices in absolute terms were Sapphire Fibres Ltd (Rs76.69), Premium Textile Mills Ltd (Rs46.65), Sapphire Textile Mills Pakistan Ltd (Rs27.82), Shield Corporation Ltd (Rs17) and Pakistan Engineering Company Ltd (Rs10).

Shares that declined the most in rupee terms were Allawasaya Textile and Finishing Mills Ltd (Rs182.41), Reliance Cotton Spinning Mills Ltd (Rs47.30), Gatron Industries Ltd (Rs27.90), Siemens Pakistan Engineering Ltd (Rs20) and Pakistan Services Ltd (Rs13.94).

Foreign investors were net buyers on Thursday as they purchased shares worth 0.14m.

Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2022