KARACHI: Stock prices dropped on Wednesday as investors resorted to redemptions on economic uncertainty.

Arif Habib Ltd said bearish sentiments gripped the bourse soon after trading began. The slide continued throughout the day, thanks to the rollover week in which futures contracts are either settled or rolled over to the next month. Decent volumes were observed across the board while third-tier companies remained volume leaders.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti said the power sector’s debt surging to new highs, political noise and the rupee’s instability played the role of a catalyst in the bearish close.

As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 39,279.43 points, down 523.48 points or 1.32 per cent from the preceding session.

The overall trading volume increased 68.1pc to 258.5 million shares. The traded value went up 53.5pc to $37.6m on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Bank Alfalah Ltd (57.9m shares), WorldCall Telecom Ltd (22m shares), K-Electric Ltd (17.8m shares), Dewan Farooque Motors Ltd (8.6m shares) and Pakistan Refinery Ltd (8.3m shares).

Sectors that contributed negatively to the index performance were technology and communication (138.9 points), commercial banking (114.4 points), fertiliser (93.8 points), chemical (36.2 points) and exploration and production (33.3 points).

Companies registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Bata Pakistan Ltd (Rs103.19), Bhanero Textile Mills Ltd (Rs37.36), Pakistan Tobacco Company Ltd (Rs24.87), Al-Abbas Sugar Mills Ltd (Rs24.37) and JDW Sugar Mills Ltd (Rs19.97).

Companies that recorded the biggest declines in their share prices in absolute terms were Nestle Pakistan Ltd (Rs162.75), Rafhan Maize Products Company Ltd (Rs122.52), Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan Ltd (Rs54.50), Premium Textile Mills Ltd (Rs48.75) and Gatron Industries Ltd (Rs21).

Foreign investors were net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $7.37m.

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2022