KARACHI: After rallying for 13 sessions in a row, the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Monday came under selling pressure as bears took charge of the trading floor.

Arif Habib Ltd said the benchmark index of the bourse lost 474.53 points in intraday trading owing to the negative news flow regarding the revival of the International Monetary Fund loan programme.

The negative trigger created disappointment among investors who resorted to profit-selling across the board.

The brokerage added that given the low market valuations, the PSX still lacked triggers that could encourage investors to initiate positions and capitalise on true stock values.

Trading volumes remained reasonable, with third-tier equities continuing to lead the volume board.

As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 41.829.49 points, down 412.49 points or 0.98 per cent from the preceding session.

The overall trading volume increased 0.5pc to 179.1 million shares. The traded value went down 17.5pc to $16.8m on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included WorldCall Telecom Ltd (20.9m shares), TPL Properties Ltd (19.7m shares), Pakistan Refinery Ltd (11.3m shares), Aisha Steel Mills Ltd (6.7m shares) and Maple Leaf Cement Factory Ltd (5.6m shares).

Sectors contributing the most to the index performance were technology and communication (-94.4 points), exploration and production (-78 points), cement (-72.4 points), commercial banking (-26.4 points) and paper and board (-22.3 points).

Companies registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Bhanero Textile Mills Ltd (Rs56.50), Pakistan Tobacco Company Ltd (Rs30.30), Sapphire Fibres Ltd (Rs10), Murree Brewery Company Ltd (Rs7) and Khyber Tobacco Company Ltd (Rs5.84).

Companies that recorded the biggest declines in their share prices in absolute terms were Unilever Pakistan Foods Ltd (Rs1,137.88), Nestle Pakistan Ltd (Rs113.28), Packages Ltd (Rs25.48), Shield Corporation Ltd (Rs22) and Premium Textile Mills Ltd (Rs15.14).

Foreign investors were net buyers as they purchased shares worth $0.11m.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2023