Pakistan equity market plunges 490 points on lack of positive triggers

KARACHI: The equity market remained under pressure throughout the trading session on Friday, as the investors opted for profit-taking in the absence of positive triggers, amid deteriorating economic indicators, dealers said.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said the stocks fell sharply lower led by scrips across-the-board on concerns over weak economic outlook.

“Weak global equities, rupee instability, uncertainty over EU exports, concerns over delayed $400 million World Bank loan and weak IMF ties played a catalytic role in the bearish close.”

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares index shed 1.02 per cent, or 489.72 points, to close at 47,563.45 points. The KSE-30 shares index shed 1.32 per cent, or 255.03 points, to close at 19,110.87 points.

As many as 406 scrips were active, of which 159 advanced, 237 declined and 10 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 505.90 million shares, compared with the turnover of 475.23 million shares in the last trading session.

An analyst at Topline Securities said the stocks market returned to its course after one positive session, as the index remained under pressure on Friday.

“Major pressure to the index came from TRG Pakistan, Lucky Cement, Kot Addu Power Company (Kapco) and Hub Power Company (Hubco), as they cumulatively weighed down on the index by 214 points.”

Muhammad Mubashar at JS Global Capital said that the bourse remained under pressure throughout the day due to the lack of positive triggers and concerns over the likely emergence of the fourth wave of Covid-19.

“Investors preferred to book profits across-the-board after yesterday’s gains. As a result, the benchmark KSE-100 closed at 47,563 level, down 490 points.”

“On the economic front, Pakistan’s total foreign currency reserves crossed the $24 billion mark and State Bank of Pakistan Governor Dr Reza Baqir said that negotiations with the IMF are going well.”

Going forward, the analysts recommend investors to avail of any downside as an opportunity to buy in the construction and export-oriented sectors.

The companies that reflected the highest gains included Unilever Foods, up Rs634 to close at Rs16,189/share; and Rafhan Maize, up Rs501 to close at Rs10,400/share.

The companies, which reflected the most losses included Pakistan Tobacco, down Rs75.44 to close at Rs1,254.56/share; and Gatron Industries, down Rs373.68 to end at Rs473.1/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in TPL Corp with a turnover of 41.97 million shares. The scrip gained Rs1.29 to close at Rs19.67/share; followed by Pace Pakistan with a turnover of 27.11 million shares. It gained 31 paisas to close at Rs7.88/share. WorldCall Telecom was the third with a turnover of 25.78 million shares. It shed 7 paisas to finish at Rs3.85.

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