KSE-100 falls over 350 points as high oil prices dent sentiment

• At close, KSE-100 index settled at 45,012.18 points.
• Trading activity remained range-bound throughout session.
• Increasing oil prices in international market added to woes of investors.

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) endured another dull session on Tuesday, as trading activity remained range-bound throughout the session, which closed in the red.

A lack of positive triggers coupled with depreciation of the rupee against the greenback continued to haunt the market players as the benchmark KSE-100 index shed another 351 points.

Moreover, increasing oil and commodity prices in the international market added to the woes of investors, who opted to stay on the sidelines.

Oil hit its highest since 2014 as tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalated after Moscow ordered troops into two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, adding to supply concerns that are pushing prices to nearly $100 a barrel.

At the close, the benchmark KSE-100 index declined 350.67 points, or 0.77%, to settle at 45,012.18 points.

A report from Arif Habib Limited noted the market remained under pressure today due to mounting international oil prices.

“New York's West Texas Intermediate crude contract rose more than 3% on Tuesday as Russian President Vladimir Putin deployed troops to separatist areas of Ukraine,” it stated.

Read more: Oil hits highest since 2014 on Russia-Ukraine escalation

Selling was witnessed throughout the day mainly in the technology and cement stocks, which led the market to stay in the red zone.

The brokerage house noted that in the last trading hour, value hunting was observed which led to recovery in the market.

“The activity continued to remain side-ways as market witnessed hefty volumes in the third-tier stocks,” it said.

Sectors contributing to the performance included technology (-124.2 points), cement (-54.1 points), fertiliser (-40.5 points), power (-38.3 points) and oil marketing companies (-20.7 points).

Shares of 341 companies were traded during the session. At the close of trading, 75 scrips closed in the green, 252 in the red, and 14 remained unchanged.

Overall trading volumes rose to 222.17 million shares compared with Monday’s tally of 137.65 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs7.62 billion.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 23.68 million shares traded, losing Rs0.05 to close at Rs1.80. It was followed by Bank of Punjab with 14.41 million shares traded, losing Rs0.20 to close at Rs7.95, and Telecard Limited with 12.9 million shares traded, losing Rs1.08 to close at Rs14.75.