KSE-100 reverses bullish trend, falls over 600 points

By
Business Desk

December 16, 2021

— Reuters/File
— Reuters/File

  • KSE-100 succumbs to selling pressure and once again falls below the psychological barrier of the 44,000-point mark.
  • Shares of 345 companies traded during the session.
  • Overall trading volumes drop to 312.07 million shares.

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) succumbed to selling pressure on Thursday as the market once again fell below the psychological barrier of the 44,000-point mark.

Oil and gas marketing companies remained under pressure on the back of the decision taken by the government to reduce the prices of petroleum products. Resultantly, all scrips, other than Burshane LPG, closed the session in the red.

Moreover, continuous depreciation in the Pakistan rupee against the US dollar coupled with uncertainty regarding current account data which is scheduled to be released next week kept the investors jittery during the session and forced them to remain on the sidelines.

Today, the benchmark KSE-100 index fell by 635.66 points, or 1.43%, to close at 43,731.20 points.

Benchmark KSE-100 intra-day trading curve. — PSX data portal
Benchmark KSE-100 intra-day trading curve. — PSX data portal

A report from Topline Securities in its post-market commentary stated that the market opened on a negative note following yesterday’s T-Bills auction where cutoff yields remained flat contrary to investors’ expectations.

“Investors were expecting a cut following fall in secondary market yields by 25 basis points yesterday,” it said, adding that this led the market to touch an intra-day low of 759 points during the session.

Shares of 345 companies were traded during the session. At the close of trading, 86 scrips closed in the green, 248 in the red, and 11 remained unchanged.

Overall trading volumes dropped to 312.07 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 398.09 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs10.12 billion.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 49.2 million shares traded, gaining Rs0.01 to close at Rs2.21. It was followed by Telecard Limited with 30.9 million shares traded, gaining Rs0.97 to close at Rs15.75, and Byco Petroleum with 19 million shares traded, losing Rs0.31 to close at Rs6.44.