Pakistan stocks tumble on global equity sell-off

KARACHI: The benchmark KSE-100 Index witnessed a massive sell-off as President Putin ordered military operation and Russian forces launched a full invasion in Ukraine, dealers said.

An analyst at Pearl Securities said that with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the global markets also turned red.

“Additionally, the international oil prices rose above $105/barrel, which dampened the investors’ interest through the day. The activities further darkened as the cut-off yields were increased in Wednesday’s auction,” he added.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares Index shed 2.89 per cent, or 1,302.41 points, to close at 43,830.51 points. The KSE-30 shares Index shed 3.04 per cent, or 534.12 points, to close at 17,049.99 points.

As many as 320 scrips were active of which 164 advanced, 128 declined and 28 remained unchanged.

The ready market volumes stood at 350.05 million shares, compared with the turnover of 186.35 million shares in the last trading session.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said that the stocks fell across the board amid high trades after Russian assault on Ukraine and global equity sell off on regional tensions.

“Foreign selling, and investors’ concerns over the economic impact of the record surge in the global oil prices played a catalyst role in the bearish close,” he added.

Going forward, the analysts expect the market to remain volatile due to the prevailing crisis.

The companies which reflected the highest gains included Bhanero Tex up Rs74 to close at Rs1,325/share, and Rafhan Maize up Rs200 to close at Rs10,500/share.

The companies that reflected the most losses included Bata Pakistan down Rs109 to close at Rs1,990/share, and Nestle Pakistan down Rs200 to close at Rs5,400/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in Flying Cement Rights with a turnover of 38.42 million shares. The scrip gained 36 paisas to close at Rs1.19/share, followed by Worldcall Telecom with a turnover of 33.13 million shares. It shed 14 paisas to closes at Rs1.68/share. Hum Network remained the third with a turnover of 20.4 million shares. It shed 62 paisas to finish at Rs6.66/share.