KSE-100 recoups losses, manages meagre gains amid a dearth of triggers

By
Business Desk
|
The benchmark KSE-100 index at the Pakistan Stock Exchange — AFP
The benchmark KSE-100 index at the Pakistan Stock Exchange — AFP

  • Market players avoid taking fresh positions ahead of the MPC meeting and MSCI’s final decision regarding the PSX.
  • Trading volume drops to 465 million shares compared to 544.4 million shares traded on Thursday.
  • During the session, shares of 526 listed companies were traded. 


KARACHI: The Pakistan Stocks Exchange (PSX) was back on track as bulls re-appeared to take control of the market after a day of consolidation.

The stock market gained over 50 points but failed to surpass the 47,000 psychological barrier, recouping some of the loss incurred on Thursday.

Dismal trade account data announced yesterday, which showed a deficit of 133%, played on the investors' minds.

Following a brief open in the positive zone, the bourse turned bearish and the bench KSE-100 index began declining as investors resorted to divesting their holdings.

The index staged a modest recovery after trade resumed in the second half as market participants acted to erase losses, managing to end on a positive note.

The market players avoided taking fresh positions ahead of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting and MSCI’s final decision regarding the PSX, scheduled this month.

Earlier in June, the MSCI had proposed the PSX be downgraded to its Frontier Markets (FM) Index in November 2021 from the Emerging Markets (EM) Index. The final decision in this regard is expected to come next week.

KSE-100 intra-day curve
KSE-100 intra-day curve

The benchmark KSE-100 index gained 54.41 points or 0.12% on Friday, to close at 46,957.47 points.

A report from Topline Securities noted that the market largely remained in the positive zone throughout the trading session as the benchmark KSE-100 touched an intra-day high of 210 points.

Trading volume dropped to 465 million shares compared to 544.4 million shares traded on Thursday (September 2).

During the session, shares of 526 listed companies were traded. At the end of the session, 201 stocks closed in the green, 311 in the red and 14 remained unchanged.

Service Fab (R) was the volume leader with 83.6 million shares, losing Rs0.98 to close at Rs4.87. It was followed by WorldCall Limited with 50.6 million shares, gaining Rs0.05 to close at Rs3.55 and Telecard Limited with 37.9 million shares, gaining Rs1.38 to close at Rs21.92.

Major contributions to the index came from Jubilee Life Insurance Company, Abbott Laboratories, Systems Limited, MCB, Dawood Hercules Corporation, as they cumulatively contributed 229 points to the index.