KARACHI: The shares market saw lacklustre activity on Tuesday amid low trading volumes and mixed economic signals.

Topline Securities said trading commenced on a positive note as news agency Bloomberg quoted a statement by the caretaker premier about the likelihood of Pakistan getting $25 billion investment from Gulf countries in the near future.

It led to the benchmark index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange hitting an intraday high of 243 points or 0.53 per cent. However, investors opted some profit-taking at that level, thus pulling the KSE-100 index down to the intraday low of 290 points (0.6pc).

Another highlight of the day was the rupee appreciating against the greenback in the open market after the government took steps for the curtailment of dollar smuggling.

As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 45,491.49 points, down 215.94 points or 0.47pc from the preceding session.

The overall trading volume decreased 11.5pc to 123 million shares. The traded value decreased 17.6pc to Rs3.6bn on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included WorldCall Telecom Ltd (21.8m shares), Maple Leaf Cement Factory Ltd (8.4m shares), Pakistan Refinery Ltd (4.7m shares), Symmetry Group Ltd (4m shares) and Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (3.9m shares).

Companies registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Bata Pakistan Ltd (Rs19.02), Gadoon Textile Mills Ltd (Rs13.63), Murree Brewery Company Ltd (Rs7.96), Shahmurad Sugar Mills Ltd (Rs7.66) and Chashma Sugar Mills Ltd (Rs3.25).

Companies that recorded the biggest declines in their share prices in absolute terms were Mehmood Textile Mills Ltd (Rs43.98), JS Global Capital Ltd (Rs11.01), Siemens Pakistan Engineering Ltd (Rs10), Abbott Laboratories Ltd (Rs9.89) and Premium Textile Mills Ltd (Rs9.15).

Foreign investors were net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $0.37m.

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2023