KSE-100 inches down in volatile session

• KSE-100 index sheds 99.60 points to settle at 45,553.02.
• Shares of 316 companies were traded during the session.
• Overall trading volumes rise to 217.56 million shares.

KARACHI: The bears maintained a firm grip over the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Friday, in line with the performance during the last few sessions, as International Monetary Fund (IMF) concerns fuelled selling pressure across the board ahead of futures rollover week.

The benchmark KSE-100 index maintained the downtrend due to uncertainty regarding talks between IMF and Pakistan for the seventh review of the $6 billion programme.

Moreover, the depreciation of the Pakistani rupee against the US dollar also took a toll on the market activity.

In the morning, the market opened upwards and rose in earlier trading. Some stability emerged at midday, but it could not be sustained. Late session selling dragged the market further into the negative territory.

At the close, the KSE-100 index lost 99.60 points, or 0.22%, to settle at 45,553.02 points.

Arif Habib Limited in its post-market commentary noted a range-bound secession was observed at PSX today due to further devaluation of Pakistani rupee against the US dollars and concerns over spike in T-Bill yields.

The market opened in the green zone but failed to sustain the positive trend as profit selling was witnessed in the main board. The secession remained dull although third-tier stocks continued their positive momentum.

Sectors contributing to the performance included miscellaneous (-66.8 points), chemical (-30.5 points), fertiliser (-25.9 points), banks (-24.8 points) and power (-21.2 points).

Shares of 316 companies were traded during the session. At the close of trading, 162 scrips closed in the green, 132 in the red, and 22 remained unchanged.

Overall trading volumes rose to 217.56 million shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 186.43 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs5.29 billion.

Cynergico PK Limited was the volume leader with 23.64 million shares traded, losing Rs0.16 to close at Rs6.66. It was followed by Hum Network Limited with 23.60 million shares traded, gaining Rs8.21 to close at Rs19.59 and Lotte Chemical Pakistan with 19.59 million shares traded, losing Rs0.77 to close at Rs19.01.