KARACHI: Pakistan’s equity market witnessed a profit-taking session on the first day of the week, as lockdown implications started in some cities due to the resurgence of novel coronavirus, dealers said.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said that the stocks closed lower in the earnings season on investors’ concerns over weak economic outlook and a decline in the rupee value.

“Weak global crude prices, concerns over economic impact of Covid pandemic lockdowns and uncertainty over [the] monetary policy announcement, amid surging inflation, played a catalytic role in the bearish close.”

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares index shed 0.25 per cent, or 120.39 points, to close at 47,672.68 points. The KSE-30 shares index shed 0.28 per cent, or 54.37 points, to close at 19,106.87 points.

As many as 394 scrips were active, of which 187 advanced, 187 declined and 20 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 450.20 million shares, compared with the turnover of 314.16 million shares in the last trading session.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said the market traded range-bound between +137 points and -186 points and closed the session down 122 points.

“[The] first day of the rollover saw a bit of hiccup early on when the 60- and 90-day contracts faced some technical glitch. Enhancement of position limit and exposure limit helped investors take new positions, whereas technology and textile sectors saw nominal profit-booking. The rupee parity, which realised depreciation in the outgoing week, bounced back.”

Cement, steel, E&P, gas marketing companies and banks contributed negatively to the index, whereas fertiliser, technology and textile sectors had a positive bearing on the index.

An analyst at Pearl Securities said the bourse remained under pressure due to the higher-than-expected current account deficit along with the continuous rupee volatility.

“Going forward, we expect the market to move both ways due to the upcoming monetary policy announcement and the rollover week,” the analyst added.

The companies, which reflected the highest gains included Unilever Foods, up Rs400 to close at Rs16,400/share; and Colgate Palmolive, up Rs79.46 to close at Rs2,777.46/share.

The companies that reflected the most losses included Wyeth Pakistan, down Rs37.60 to close at Rs2091.50/share; and Shield Corporation, down Rs31.80 to end at Rs392.20/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in WorldCall Telecom with a turnover of 127.88 million shares. The scrip gained 28 paisas to close at Rs3.84/share; followed by Telecard Limited with a turnover of 45.07 million shares. It gained 99 paisas to close at Rs15.72/share. TPL Corp was the third with a turnover of 17.42 million shares. It shed 33 paisas to finish at Rs24.03.

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