Bearish spell persists at PSX, KSE-100 index falls below 43,000-point mark

• Today, at the close, the benchmark KSE-100 index fall by 519.41 points to close at 42,876.37.
• Investors are keeping a close eye on the monetary announcement scheduled tomorrow, as they expect SBP to raise policy rate by 100 bps.
• The bourse last fell below the 43,000-point mark on March 11 (42,779,76).

KARACHI: The bears continued to hold sway at the stock market for the fourth consecutive session on Monday as the benchmark KSE-100 index fell over 500 points and closed below the 43,000-point mark after hiatus of nine months.

It may be recalled the bourse last fell below the 43,000-point mark on March 11 (42,779,76).

The investors are keeping a close eye on the monetary announcement scheduled tomorrow, as they expect the central bank to raise the policy rate by 100 basis points.

Constant depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar coupled with concerns over the mini-budget kept market trading in a narrow range throughout the day.

Adding fuel to the fire, the news of confirmation of Pakistan's first-ever case of the Omicron variant took a toll on investor sentiment as the market expected the government to impose stricter measures in order to curb the spread of the new variant.

Earlier, trading began on a positive note, however, the lack of positive triggers pulled the KSE-100 index into negative territory within the first hour.

As uncertainty prevailed, the index oscillated between red and green zones throughout the day. The market saw significant profit booking in the final hour and resultantly, it closed with a loss.

Today, at the close, the benchmark KSE-100 index fell 519.41 points, or 1.20%, to close at 42,876.37 points.

A report from Topline Securities noted that Pakistan equities closed red today where the benchmark KSE-100 Index settled at 42,876.

“Investors are waiting for the monetary policy announcement which is due tomorrow,” it said, adding that the market opened on a positive note, however, the KSE-100 index came under pressure and traded negatively throughout the day touching an intraday low of 589 points.

“Major negativity came from the technology and communication sector where TRG Pakistan and Systems Limited cumulatively dented the index by 136 points, further profit-taking was witnessed in the financial sector as UBL, MCB and MEBL were the major laggards,” the brokerage house reported.

Shares of 331 companies were traded during the session. At the close of trading, 65 scrips closed in the green, 250 in the red, and 16 remained unchanged.

Overall trading volumes dropped to 150.4 million shares compared with Friday’s tally of 179.2 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs5.3 billion.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 18.3 million shares traded, losing Rs0.18 to close at Rs1.70. It was followed by Byco Petroleum with 7.3 million shares traded, losing Rs0.03 to close at Rs5.65, and Fatima Fertiliser Company with seven million shares traded, losing Rs0.24 to close at Rs34.76.