Bears continue to haunt PSX as KSE-100 Index losses 796.48 points

KARACHI: The Pakistan stocks witnessed yet another profit-taking session, amid higher inflation concerns, monetary tightening, and pressure persisting on the currency; thus, resulting in massive sell-off across-the-board on Tuesday.

An analyst at Pearl Securities said for the second consecutive session, cement and technology sectors cumulatively eroded 329 points from the index.

“Investors were panicked during the day in the absence of any positive trigger to drive the market sentiment.”

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares Index shed 1.74 per cent, or 796.48 points, to close at 44,948.52 points. The KSE-30 shares Index shed 1.89 per cent, or 333.98 points, to close at 17,379.98 points.

As many as 358 scrips were active, of which 49 advanced, 297 declined and 12 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 264.6 million shares, compared with the turnover of 261.9 million shares in the last trading session.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said the bears ruled over the bulls, as investors were unable to digest the hawkish stance of the last monetary policy, which resulted in a double-digit six-month Kibor.

“Hefty increase in the finance cost of leveraged businesses will eventually lower [the] profits, as a major portion of borrowing appears from Kibor-led lending.”

The second day of the rollover week remained under pressure, as investors took a cautious side and opted for squaring of the rollover positions. In the last trading hour, a bloodbath session was witnessed, as selling came across-the-board.

The companies that reflected the highest gains included Sapphire Fiber, up Rs59.97 to close at Rs958/share; and Gatron Industries, up Rs35.47 to close at Rs508.47/share.

The companies, which reflected the most losses included Unilever Foods, down Rs499 to close at Rs19,50/share; and Nestle Pakistan, down Rs139.99 to close at Rs5,560.01/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in TRG Pakistan with a turnover of 19.63 million shares. The scrip shed Rs7.16 to close at Rs88.35/share; followed by WorldCall Telecom with a turnover of 17.16 million shares. It shed six paisas to close at Rs2.17/share. Byco Petroleum remained the third with a turnover of 13.76 million shares. It shed 31 paisas to finish at Rs6.52.