Pakistan stocks shed 510 points on massive selling

KARACHI: Massive selling was witnessed at the Pakistan bourse on Thursday where cement sector marked the worst performance session due to the 158 per cent rise in the international coal prices, dealers said.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said the market saw a drawdown of 539 points during the session, which came in the back drop of the depreciating rupee, rising costs of commodities, particularly coal for cement, and redemption calls at mutual funds end.

“[The] cement sector saw significant selling pressure; followed by [the] banks and technology stocks due to cost pressures and limited flexibility to pass on the costs. Weak investors’ sentiment, as evident from the longer-than-anticipated consolidation of the KSE-100 benchmark, made even the depreciating rupee a negative factor for technology, textiles and E&P stocks, which would otherwise benefit.”

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares index shed 1.08 per cent, or 510.4 points, to close at 46,903.06 points. The KSE-30 shares index shed 1.17 per cent, or 223.2 points, to close at 18,806.07 points.

As many as 530 scrips were active, of which 139 advanced, 363 declined and 28 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 544.43 million shares, compared with the turnover of 536.64 million shares in the last trading session.

Maaz Mulla at JS Global Capital said that the hammering was witnessed in the cement sector, as coal prices went higher in the international market.

As a result, Pioneer Cement (PIOC) declined 5.8 per cent, Cherat Cement (CHCC) down 5.3 per cent, Maple Leaf Cement (MLCF) down 3.5 per cent, D.G Khan Cement (DGKC) down 2.7 per cent and Lucky Cement declined 1.6 per cent.

“[The] refinery sector gained on the back of the news that the Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) has finalised the modified draft Refinery Policy 2021 after incorporation of the recommendations of the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE), where Attock Refinery (ATRL) surged 3.1 per cent, National Refinery Limited (NRL) gained 3.4 per cent, Byco went up 2.3 per cent and Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) increased 2.1 per cent.”

Going forward, the analysts recommend investors to remain cautious and wait for clarity on the MSCI reclassification proposal, scheduled to be announced on September 7, 2021.

The companies, which reflected the highest gains included Unilever Foods, up Rs1,515.15 to close at Rs21,723.37/share; and Rafhan Maize, up Rs249 to close at Rs10,449/share.

The companies that reflected the most losses included Philip Morris Pakistan, down Rs55 to close at Rs922/share; and Wyeth Pakistan, down Rs42 to end at Rs1,730/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in Ghani Global with a turnover of 57.96 million shares. The scrip gained 98 paisas to close at Rs47.18/share; followed by WorldCall Telecom with a turnover of 53.34 million shares. It shed six paisas to close at Rs3.5/share. Azgard nine remained the third with a turnover of 42.15 million shares. It gained three paisas to finish at Rs25.85.