KSE-100 index sheds 26 points in dull trading
Published March 22, 2022
- Pressure to the downside was led by currency depreciation, political uncertainty.
- KSE-100 index edges down by 0.06% to settle at 43,203.79 points.
- Shares of 320 companies were traded during the session.
KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) experienced a tepid trading session on Tuesday and the benchmark KSE-100 index shed 26 points amid the absence of any significant development capped gains.
Initially, the stock market carried forward yesterday’s buying momentum as investors opted to invest the fund in blue-chip stocks having attractive dividend yields.
Pressure to the downside was led by uncertainty regarding the ongoing political crisis in the wake of the no-confidence motion submitted against Prime Minister Imran Khan and continuous depreciation in rupee.
Moreover, investors also remained on the sidelines as they speculated the outcomes of the ongoing talks between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Pakistan regarding the next loan tranche.
During the session, the Asian Development Bank (ABD) approved a $300 million for Pakistan capital markets
The Manilla-based lender said that PSX lacks depth in terms of the number of investors which access it and the number of companies raising capital.
At the close, the KSE-100 index edged down by 26.43 points, or 0.06%, to settle at 43,203.79 points.
A report from Arif Habib Limited in its post-market commentary noted that a range-bound session was observed today due to political unrest and rupee devaluation against the US dollar.
“The market opened in the green zone but stayed volatile throughout the day,” it said, adding that mainboard activity remained dull.
The brokerage house noted that on the flip-side, activity continued to remain side-ways as the market witnessed hefty volumes in the third-tier stocks.
Meanwhile, in the last trading hour, profit-taking was witnessed which led the index to close in the red zone.
Sectors contributing to the performance included banks (-36.2 points), exploration and production (-25.1 points), cement (-18.9 points), and automobile parts (-12 points).
Shares of 320 companies were traded during the session. At the close of trading, 155 scrips closed in the green, 143 in the red, and 22 remained unchanged.
Overall trading volumes rose to 138.28 million shares compared with Monday’s tally of 124.94 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs5 billion.
Treet Corporation was the volume leader with 15.35 million shares traded, gaining Rs0.20 to close at Rs30.07. It was followed by TPL Properties with 8.38 million shares traded, gaining Rs0.50 to close at Rs17.88, and Pak Elektron with 7.35 million shares traded, gaining Rs0.09 to close at Rs1.
