KSE-100 Index shed 325 points amid rise in Covid cases

KARACHI: The Pakistan bourse adjusted a bit on Thursday as investors opted for profit booking amidst rising global commodity prices and fast spreading Covid infections across the world, dealers said.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said that the stocks closed bearish on renewed concerns in the global equities over Covid pandemic.

“[A] slump in [the] rupee, surging trade and current account deficit and uncertainty over outcome of [the] IMF [International Monetary Fund] board review on January 12, played a catalyst role in the bearish close.”

The Pakistan stock exchange KSE-100 shares Index shed 0.72 per cent or 325.59 points to close at 45,082.3 points. The KSE-30 shares index shed 0.62 per cent or 110.39 points to close at 17,759.9 points.

As many as 360 scrips were active, of which 87 advanced, 258 declined and 15 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 345.29 million shares, compared with the turnover of 432.06 million shares in the last trading session.

An analyst at JS global Capital said that the market took a break on Thursday after a seven-day climb. “Important news that dampened investors’ confidence, were regarding a rise in international coal prices and widening trade deficit.”

“Going forward, we advise a buy on dips strategy in the technology, oil and gas exploration, banking and cyclical sector stocks.”

The companies that reflected the highest gains included Nestle Pakistan up Rs37.95 to close at Rs5,550/share, and Ismail Industries up Rs24.2 to close at Rs450/share.

The companies which reflected the most losses included Unilever Foods down Rs150 to close at Rs19,350/share, and Sapphire Fiber down Rs80.25 to close at Rs989.75/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in Worldcall Telecom with a turnover of 65.1 million shares. The scrip shed 10 paisas to close at Rs2.26/share, followed by the TRG Pakistan with a turnover of 54.81 million shares, as it shed Rs9.26 to close at Rs114.33/share. Unity Foods remained the third with a turnover of 30.19 million shares. It shed 2 paisas to finish at Rs2.25/share.