Pakistan equity market closes lower on dismal economic indicators

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange closed on a negative note on Friday, as the swelling current account deficit and global rating agencies downgrading Pakistan’s rating dented the investors’ confidence, analysts said.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares Index shed 0.31 per cent, or 126.28 points, to close at 40,150.36 points. The KSE-30 shares Index shed 0.46 per cent, or 70.56 points, to close at 15,232.44 points.
An analyst at Topline Securities said that range bound session was witnessed on the last trading session of the week where the KSE-100 Index traded between an intraday high of 144 points and intraday low of 250 points to finally settle at 40,150 level.
As many as 312 scrips were active of which 108 advanced, 179 declined and 25 remained unchanged.
The ready market volumes stood at 170.27 million shares, compared with the turnover of 251.27 million shares in the last trading session.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that political instability took a toll on the investors’ confidence throughout the week. While the investors remain at the sidelines waiting for the release of funds from the International Monetary Fund, he added.
The delay in the disbursement of funds from the IMF and the global rating agencies cutting down Pakistan’s rating from stable to negative further fueled instability in the market.
The companies which reflected the highest gains included Mehmood Textile up Rs57.04 to close at Rs818.25/share, Indus Motor up Rs43.18 to close at Rs994.60/share.
The companies which reflected the most losses included Colgate Palm down Rs70.50 to close at Rs1,999.50/share, and Thal Limited down Rs18.15 to close at Rs228.98/share.
The highest volumes were witnessed in Unity Foods with a turnover of 13.93 million shares. The scrip gained 45 paisas to close at Rs18.74/share, followed by Lotte Chemical with a turnover of 9.96 million shares. It shed 76 paisas to close at Rs29.47/share. Cnergyico PK remained the third with a turnover of 8.71 million shares. It shed 4 paisas to finish at Rs4.79/share.