Pakistan bourse sheds 300 points over political upheaval

KARACHI: The Pakistan stocks exchange witnessed a bearish trend throughout the day on Thursday as the political uncertainty gripped the investors’ confidence, analysts said.

An analyst at Pearl Securities said that the political uncertainty increased as the government registered cases against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman.

“The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will hold a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting regarding the policy rate where the market expects a hike based on the high inflation in the coming month,” he added.

“Going forward, the market’s direction will depend on the central bank’s communication regarding interest rates. We recommend our investors adopt the “Buy on Dip” strategy in the upcoming sessions,” the analyst said.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares Index shed 0.70 per cent, or 305.40 points, to close at 43,032.57 points. The KSE-30 shares Index shed 1.16 per cent, or 191.58 points, to close at 16,335.02 points.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the market remained range-bound throughout the day due to concerns over rising inflation and political noise.

“The benchmark KSE-100 Index opened in the positive zone but dull activity was observed at the bourse. In the last trading hour, profit taking was witnessed across the board which dragged the Index in the red zone. Volumes remained dry in the main board although hefty volumes were witnessed in the third tier stocks,” he added.

As many as 343 scrips were active of which 110 advanced, 209 declined and 24 remained unchanged.
The ready market volumes stood at 208.11 million shares, compared with the turnover of 256.47 million shares in the last trading session.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the PSX witnessed a bullish session as the KSE-100 Index traded in the green zone throughout the day.

“The investors’ confidence got a boost due to the policy rate being unchanged. The cement sector remained in the limelight while hefty volumes were witnessed in the main board and third tier stocks,” he added.

The companies which reflected the highest gains included Sanofi-Aventis up Rs79.70 to close at Rs1,349.70/share, and Reliance Cotton up Rs37.05 to close at Rs531.05/share.

The companies which reflected the most losses included Sapphire Textile down Rs64.33 to close at Rs1,057/share, and Colgate Palm down Rs24.97 to close at Rs2,375/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in WorldCall Telecom with a turnover of 18.59 million shares. The scrip shed 3 paisas to close at Rs1.32/share, followed by Hascol Petrol with a turnover of 10.50 million shares. It shed 8 paisas to close at Rs6.74/share. Pakistan International Airlines remained the third with a turnover of 9.30 million shares. It shed 38 paisas to finish at Rs4.97/share.