PSX sheds 489 points over political noise

KARACHI: The Pakistan bourse closed in the negative zone on Wednesday after witnessing another negative session where panic selling was observed over renewed political uncertainty, analysts said.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the market witnessed a negative session, where the KSE-100 Index recorded a lackluster session as investor participation remained low due to ongoing political unrest

Political uncertainty increased after the Punjab governor directed the chief minister to obtain a vote of confidence from the house, while the interior minister’s threat of governor’s rule instigated alarm bells among the shareholders, he remarked.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares Index shed 489.56 points, or 1.23 per cent, to close at 39,342.89 points. The KSE-30 shares Index shed 230.89 points, or 1.57 per cent, to close at 14,459.95 points.

As many as 329 scrips were active of which 115 advanced, 195 declined and 19 remained unchanged.

The ready market volumes stood at 166 million shares, compared with the turnover of 265.28 million shares in the last trading session.

An analyst Pearl Securities said that the KSE-100 Index started on a positive note where the Index gained 190 points during the initial hours of trading.

“In the later session, the market witnessed panic selling and touched the year’s lowest index with dry volumes. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) asked for passing on the Rs65 billion burden to power consumers to further move in the programme,” he added.

Going forward, the analysts expect the market to remain under pressure due to political battles and blurred economic tracks. Hence, suggest investors adopt the “Sell on Strength” strategy in the upcoming sessions.

The companies which reflected the highest gains included Nestle Pakistan up Rs100 to close at Rs5,350/share, and Premium Textile up Rs45.50 to close at Rs669.79/share.

The companies which reflected the most losses included Rafhan Maize down Rs600 to close at Rs7,755/share, and Sanofi-Aventis down Rs73.99 to close at Rs966.01/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in WorldCall Telecom with a turnover of 17.47 million shares. The scrip shed one paisa to close at Rs1.16/share, followed by Hum Network with a turnover of 11.87 million shares. It shed two paisas to close at Rs5.60/share. Dewan Motors remained the third with a turnover of 8.57 million shares. It shed Re1 to close at Rs11.47/share.

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