PSX sheds 557 points over political, economic upheaval

KARACHI: The Pakistan equity witnessed a bloodbath session on Thursday owing to renewed pressure on the investors’ confidence amid disturbed local conditions besides decline in the global equities, analysts said.

An analyst at Pearl Securities said that the bourse remained under severe pressure with moderated volume and ended with a bloodbath.

“The bloodbath was seen due to the likely redemption of the mutual funds amid the year-end phenomenon. Additionally, massive selling was seen as investors preferred to offload positions due to the pressure in the international equities after the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 50 basis points to the highest level in 15 years,” he added.

Meanwhile, national security problems due to the Afghan border tension and political threats from Imran khan to dissolve provincial assemblies worry stockholders,” he added.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares Index shed 557.86 points, or 1.34 per cent, to close at 41,179.76 points. The KSE-30 shares Index shed 248.17 points, or 1.60 per cent, to close at 15,215.25 points.

As many as 330 scrips were active of which 67 advanced, 249 declined and 14 remained unchanged.

Commodities expert Ahsan Mehanti said that the stocks fell across the board as investors weighed the slump in remittances by 14.3 per cent and surging T-bill yields.

“Security unrest at the Pak-Afghan border, economic instability and investor concerns over the outcome of Pakistan’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the ninth review played a catalyst role in the bearish close,” he added.

Going forward, the analysts expect the market to remain under pressure due to political instability and the IMF awaiting tranche. Hence, suggest investors adopt the “Sell on Strength” strategy in the upcoming sessions.

The ready market volumes stood at 245.01 million shares, compared with the turnover of 146.71 million shares in the last trading session.

The companies which reflected the highest gains included Bhanero Textile up Rs79.72 to close at Rs1,142.72/share, and Pak Services up Rs70.83 to close at Rs1,350/share.

The companies which reflected the most losses included Unilever Foods down Rs1,000 to close at Rs24,000/share, and Rafhan Maize down Rs360 to close at Rs8,700/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in Bank Al-Falah with a turnover of 41.17 million shares. The scrip shed 47 paisas to close at Rs30.69/share, followed by WorldCall Telecom with a turnover of 18.58 million shares. It shed 6 paisas to close at Rs1.29/share. K-Electric remained the third with a turnover of 10.05 million shares. It shed 6 paisas to close at Rs2.46/share.

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