PSX closes lower amid lacklustre activity

KARACHI: The Pakistan equity market witnessed a lacklustre session on Friday after investors opted for profit taking which dragged the Index to close in a negative zone.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the market remained range bound throughout the day as investors opted for profit taking.

“The benchmark KSE-100 Index opened in the positive zone but lackluster activity pulled the index down by 321 points. Volumes remained dry in the main board although healthy volumes were witnessed in the third tier stocks,” he added.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares Index shed 0.65 per cent, or 274 points, to close at 42,074.9 points. The KSE-30 shares Index shed 0.71 per cent, or 114.31 points, to close at 16,050.62 points.

An analyst at Topline Securities said that the equities witnessed a range bound session as the index traded between an intraday high of 151 points and intraday low of 322 points.

Going forward, the analysts expect the market to perform well amid clarity on the IMF programme. Hence, suggesting investors adopt a “buy on dip” strategy in the upcoming week.

As many as 347 scrips were active of which 116 advanced, 208 declined and 23 remained unchanged.

The ready market volumes stood at 140.11 million shares, compared with the turnover of 227.84 million shares in the last trading session.

The companies which reflected the highest gains included Allawasaya Textile up Rs152.62 to close at Rs2,187.62/share, Premium Textile up Rs35 to close at Rs829.99/share.

The companies which reflected the most losses included Bata (Pak) down Rs167.44 to close at Rs2,182.56/share, and Nestle Pakistan down Rs57.50 to close at Rs5,942.50/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in Pak Elektron with a turnover of 12.02 million shares. The scrip remained unchanged at Rs16.29/share, followed by Unity Foods Limited with a turnover of 8.96 million shares.

It shed 36 paisas to close at Rs 20.19/share. Sui Southern Gas remained the third with a turnover of 5.91 million shares. It shed 35 paisas to finish at Rs39.19/share.