PSX closes lower over political noise

KARACHI: The Pakistan bourse closed on a negative note over profit-taking by the market participants after political uncertainty heightened in the country, analysts said.

An analyst at Pearl Securities said the KSE-100 Index started the day on a positive note, but it gave in to selling pressure in the later half.

“The economic news cycle remained positive as the rupee strengthened to gain against the dollar and a downward trend in the international commodity prices. However, political uncertainty heightened with audio leaks of various party heads,” he added.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares Index shed 83.10 points, or 0.20 per cent to close at 41,435.13 points. The KSE-30 shares Index shed 57.67 points, or 0.37 per cent, to close at 15,504.26 points.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the market witnessed a bullish trend where the index traded in green zone for most of the session.

“The PSX opened in the positive zone although in the last trading hour investors opted for profit-taking as political noise built up,” he added.

Volumes continued to remain decent in the main board, while hefty volumes were witnessed in the third tier stocks, he added.

Going forward, the analysts expect the market to continue the upward trend. Hence, recommending investors adopt the “Buy on Dip” strategy in the upcoming sessions.

As many as 337 scrips were active of which 138 advanced, 165 declined and 34 remained unchanged.

The ready market volumes stood at 220.56 million shares, compared with the turnover of 230.65 million shares in the last trading session.

The companies which reflected the highest gains included Bata (Pak) up Rs110.71 to close at Rs2,289/share, and Colgate Palm up Rs36.99 to close at Rs2,140/share.

The companies which reflected the most losses included Sapphire Fiber down Rs94.53 to close at Rs1,165.97/share, and Premium Textile down Rs67.05 to close at Rs826.95/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in TPL Properties with a turnover of 29.30 million shares. The scrip gained 31 paisas to close at Rs21.47/share, followed by Cnergyico PK with a turnover of 17.89 million shares. It shed 1 paisa to close at Rs5.01/share. Ghani Global Holdings remained the third with a turnover of 9.73 million shares. It remained unchanged at Rs16.86/share.