Pakistan equity market shed 257 points on selling pressure

KARACHI: Pakistan equity market witnessed across-the-board selling triggered by the Taliban’s control of Kabul, which would have uncertain implications for Pakistan and the region, dealers said on Monday.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said after weeks of rapid advancement towards the capital and gaining control of province after province, the Taliban entered Kabul; thus, leading to the demise of the Afghan government led by President Ghani.

“While the Taliban have promised a peaceful transition and safety of the lives and property of the Afghan people, the West observes with an eye of caution. For Pakistan, it is widely believed that the Taliban government is usually known to have amicable terms. However, for the US/West the foremost concern remains the likelihood of Afghanistan being used as a breeding ground for terrorists, and in this respect Pakistan has a pivotal role to play.”

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares index shed 0.54 per cent, or 257.05 points, to close at 46,912.79 points. The KSE-30 shares index shed 0.39 per cent, or 73.08 points, to close at 18,782.17 points.

As many as 470 scrips were active, of which 120 advanced, 329 declined and 21 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 251.80 million shares, compared with the turnover of 213.36 million shares in the last trading session.

An analyst at Pearl Securities said the KSE-100 witnessed a massive sell-off with relatively low volumes, as the uncertainty in the region rose when the Taliban finally took control over Afghanistan after almost 20 years.

“Later on, recovery was seen in the last hours where the index found support from the major technical levels. On the news front, Large-Scale Manufacturing (LSM) marked a growth of 14.85 per cent in FY21 and APG has improved Pakistan’s rating after fulfilling 35 of the 40 recommendations of FATF [Financial Action Task Force] against money laundering, terror financing and others.”

“Going forward, we expect the market direction to depend on the positive settlement of the Afghan issue, so till then, we recommend our investors to adopt the “Sell on Strength” strategy in the ongoing week.”

The companies that reflected the highest gains included Tri-Pack Films, up Rs14.87 to close at Rs227.68/share; and Tandianwala Sugar, up Rs12.45 to close at Rs183.95/share.

The companies, which reflected the most losses included Wyeth Pakistan, down Rs151.31 to close at Rs1,866.19/share; and Nestle Pakistan, down Rs90.99 to end at Rs5,760.01/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in WorldCall Telecom with a turnover of 22.21 million shares. The scrip gained one paisa to close at Rs3.35/share; followed by Telecard Limited with a turnover of 19.38 million shares. It gained 18 paisas to close at Rs17.29/share. TRG Pakistan was the third with a turnover of 13.72 million shares. It shed 81 paisas to finish at Rs163.95.

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