KARACHI: Relentless uncertainty on the long-delayed agreement of the government with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) took a toll on share prices, which slipped deeper into the negative zone on Friday.
Arif Habib Ltd said the benchmark index of representative shares traded on the lower side owing to a lack of clarity on the staff-level agreement with the IMF that’d unlock the ninth tranche of the extended fund facility.
Investors’ participation remained dull throughout the session, resulting in the drying up of volumes on the mainboard. Sideboard shares remained the volume leaders. One reason for the sharp decline in trading activity was the beginning of Ramazan, which is usually associated with low volumes.
As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 39,942.05 points, down 434.05 points or 1.08 per cent from the preceding session.
The overall trading volume decreased 68.5pc to 46.7 million shares. The traded value went down 67pc to $4.6m on a day-on-day basis.
Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included WorldCall Telecom Ltd (4m shares), Telecard Ltd (3.8m shares), TPL Properties Ltd (1.8m shares), Pak Elektron Ltd (1.7m shares) and Fauji Cement Company Ltd (1.5m shares).
Sectors contributing negatively to the index performance were exploration and production (61.7 points), technology and communication (60.3 points), miscellaneous (47.9 points), commercial banking (47.3 points) and cement (40.2 points).
Companies registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Nestle Pakistan Ltd (Rs99.95), Sapphire Fibres Ltd (Rs71.60), Sapphire Textile Mills Ltd (Rs70.11), Ismail Industries Ltd (Rs27.91) and Khyber Textile Mills Ltd (Rs20.76).
Companies that recorded the biggest declines in their share prices in absolute terms were Pakistan Services Ltd (Rs89), Pakistan Tobacco Company Ltd (Rs52.50), Bata Pakistan Ltd (Rs45), Rafhan Maize Products Company Ltd (Rs30) and Premium Textile Mills Ltd (Rs27.07).
Foreign investors were net buyers as they purchased shares worth $0.43m.
Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2023
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