KARACHI: Share prices dropped on Tuesday as investors reacted to a high monthly inflation reading and the announcement of the federal government’s energy conservation plan.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif unveiled the plan that involves the closure of commercial markets by 8:30pm and wedding halls by 10pm.

Topline Securities said the cement sector took a major hit during trading as Lucky Cement Ltd, D.G. Khan Cement Company Ltd, Cherat Cement Company Ltd and Maple Leaf Cement Factory Ltd closed lower than a day ago.

Arif Habib Ltd said shares oscillated within a small range as poor participation from investors plunged the benchmark index into the red territory.

As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 40,630.64 points, down 185.26 points or 0.45 per cent from the preceding session.

The overall trading volume decreased 17pc to 201.1 million shares. The traded value went down 31.8pc to $21.9m on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Hascol Petroleum Ltd (20.5m shares), WorldCall Telecom Ltd (16.3m shares), Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd (14.3m shares), Al Shaheer Corporation Ltd (11.7m shares) and Dewan Farooque Motors Ltd (9.2m shares).

Sectors contributing negatively to the index performance were cement (60.4 points), commercial banking (53.1 points), power generation and distribution (27.5 points), tobacco (14.6 points) and pharmaceutical (14.2 points).

Companies registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Premium Textile Mills Ltd (Rs39.68), Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan Ltd (Rs30.01), Indus Motor Company Ltd (Rs22.08), Shield Corporation Ltd (Rs15.82) and JDW Sugar Mills Ltd (Rs12.45).

Companies that recorded the biggest declines in their share prices in absolute terms were Sapphire Textile Mills Ltd (Rs66.17), Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan Ltd (Rs44.40), Pakistan Tobacco Company Ltd (Rs43.92), Reliance Cotton Spinning Mills Ltd (Rs26.09) and Pak Suzuki Motor Company Ltd (Rs12.44).

Foreign investors were net buyers as they purchased shares worth $0.29m.

Published in Dawn, january 4th, 2023