Bears return to Pakistan bourse; Index losses 243 points 

KARACHI: The Pakistan stocks took a correction from an intraday low of 641 points and managed to close at 45,578, down 243 points, dealers said.

“Negative contributors to the index correction were TRG Pakistan, Engro, Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) and Pakistan State Oil (PSO),” Neelam Naz at JS Global Capital said.

“Going forward, next week market can continue its upward journey after completing its correction soon; therefore, investors are advised to avail any dips in [the] market, as buying opportunity stands mainly in [the] blue-chip stocks.”

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares index shed 0.53 per cent, or 243.04 points, to close at 45,578.36 points. The KSE-30 shares index shed 0.75 per cent, or 134.34 points, to close at 17,871.80 points.

As many as 346 scrips were active, of which 129 advanced, 208 declined and nine remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 300.6 million shares, compared with the turnover of 338.3 million shares in the last trading session.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said that the stocks closed lower, amid pressure on the concerns over surge in the government bond yields, delay in the Pakistan-IMF resolve over EFF and FATF decision over status quo and retention in the grey list.

“Economic uncertainty, surging trade deficit and weakening rupee played a catalytic role in [the] bearish close.”

An analyst at Topline Securities said the KSE-100 index opened on a positive note and gained to make an intraday high of 217 points; however, it failed to sustain its momentum on account of protest by right wing religious party and opposition party alliance across Pakistan.

The companies, which reflected the highest gains included Sapphire Textiles, up Rs74.5 to close at Rs1,195/share; and Rafhan Maize, up Rs60.01 to close at Rs10,350/share.

The companies that reflected the most losses included Nestle Pakistan, down Rs80 to close at Rs5,720/share and Wyeth Pakistan, down Rs55.32 to close at Rs1,503.33/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in Hum Network with a turnover of 35.86 million shares. The scrip gained 12 paisas to close at Rs6.67/share; followed by Unity Foods with a turnover of 22.53 million shares. It shed 40 paisas to close at Rs29.31/share. WorldCall Telecom remained the third with a turnover of 21.05 million shares. It shed six paisas to finish at Rs2.37.