Pakistan stocks continue bearish trend; index down 300 points

KARACHI: Pakistan stocks continued to witness pressure, amid selling over the lack of positive triggers, dealers said on Thursday.

An analyst at Pearl Securities said, “Investors seem to be too worried about the prerequisite over the IMF programme, which may result in higher import duties, increase in [the] power tariff and substantial rise in gas prices in the coming days.”

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares index shed 0.66 per cent, or 300.36 points, to close at 45,296.88 points. The KSE-30 shares index shed 1.21 per cent, or 218.45 points, to close at 17,810.54 points.

As many as 514 scrips were active, of which 143 advanced, 349 declined and 22 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 443.77 million shares, compared with the turnover of 583.73 million shares in the last trading session.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said the market saw a rebound early on with the index climbing 342 points; however, profit-booking overtook and eventually converted into aggressive selling that eroded the gains made earlier.

“Technology, banks, E&P, refinery and oil and gas sectors got the most thrashing with little bit of respite in the cement sector.”

Maaz Mulla at JS Global Capital said that the KSE-100 started on a positive note but selling pressure came in during the second half.

“[The] major laggards of the trading session were TRG Pakistan, down 3.4 per cent; AGP Pharma, down 2.7 per cent; Indus Motors, down 1.5 per cent; and Cherat Cement, down 1.7 per cent. Netsol from the technology sector announced its financial results, reporting earnings of Rs2.13/share for the year FY21.”

Analysts expect the market to remain in doldrums till the upcoming IMF meeting, which is scheduled in the first week of October.

Going forward, analysts recommend investors to remain cautious at the current levels and wait for fresh buying.

The companies, which reflected the highest gains included Sapphire Fiber, up Rs60 to close at Rs860/share; and Abbott Laboratories, up Rs47.26 to close at Rs788.72/share.

The companies that reflected the most losses included Colgate Palmolive, down Rs47.04 to close at Rs2,310.01/share; and Gatron Industries, down Rs38.62 to close at Rs476.38/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in WorldCall Telecom with a turnover of 89.12 million shares. The scrip shed three paisas to close at Rs2.95/share; followed by Hum Network with a turnover of 29.21 million shares. It shed 25 paisas to close at Rs6/share. Telecard Limited remained the third with a turnover of 23.4 million shares. It shed Rs1.53 to finish at Rs18.89.