KARACHI: The national shares market came under selling pressure on Tuesday as the weakening of the rupee against the greenback for the second consecutive day dented investors’ confidence.
According to JS Global, uncertainty regarding the International Monetary Fund’s loan programme also hurt the investors’ sentiments. The brokerage recommended investors should take advantage of any downside going forward and use it as a buying opportunity.
Arif Habib Ltd said the rupee fell 1.57 per cent in just two days. It closed at 184.44 on Tuesday, down 1.03pc from a day ago.
As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 46,333.36 points, down 206.23 points or 0.44pc from a day ago.
The trading volume decreased 10.6pc to 228.6 million shares while the traded value went down 8.4pc to $47.9m on a day-on-day basis.
Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Cnergyico PK Ltd (18.32m shares), Ghani Global Holdings Ltd (18.03m shares), WorldCall Telecom Ltd (11.54m shares), Telecard Ltd (10.87m shares) and Lotte Chemical Ltd (9.92m shares).
Sectors that took away the highest number of points from the benchmark index included commercial banking (89.25 points), oil and gas exploration (72.03 points), technology and communication (51.01 points), power generation and distribution (42.59 points) and cement (37.18 points).
Shares contributing most negatively to the index included The Hub Power Company Ltd (38.7 points), Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (34.67 points), TRG Pakistan Ltd (31.69 points), Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (29.19 points) and Bank AL Habib Ltd (21.01 points).
Stocks that contributed most positively to the index included Engro Corporation Ltd (54.43 points), Engro Polymer and Chemicals Ltd (47.37 points), Fauji Fertiliser Company Ltd (35.66 points), Engro Fertilisers Ltd (34.36 points) and Dawood Hercules Corporation Ltd (17.42 points).
Foreign investors were net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $0.78m.
Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2022