The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) remained bearish for the second straight day on Tuesday amid uncertainty over the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding 715.13 points (-1.52 percent) to close at 46,399.91 points.
The market opened on a positive note and gained around 60 points before switching towards the red green where it remained till end of the session. The KSE-100 Index moved in a range of 867.5 points, showing an intraday high of 47,174.4 points and a low of 46,306.9 points.
Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 458.95 points (-1.43 percent) to close at 31,673.34 points, while All Share Islamic Index shed 340.46 points (-1.49 percent) to close at 22,479.24 points. A total of 369 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of them shares of 53 closed up, shares of 299 closed down while shares of 17 companies remained unchanged. Out of 94 traded companies in the KSE-100 Index, 10 closed up, 82 closed down and two remained unchanged. The overall market volumes increased by 69.80 million to 434.69 million shares. Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index were 130.93 million shares. The number of total trades increased by 19,242 to 155,291, while the value traded increased by Rs1.48 billion to Rs14.26 billion. Overall market capitalisation decreased by Rs111.90 billion.
Among scrips, TELE topped the volumes with 33.51 million shares, followed by FFLR1 (28.81 million) and FNEL (25.36 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include TELE, FFLR1, FNEL, WTL and GGL, which formed around 30 percent of total volumes.
The index was let down by commercial banks with 123 points, cement with 102 points, technology and communication with 79 points, oil & gas exploration companies with 63 points and power generation & distribution with 46 points. The most points taken off the index were by TRG which stripped the index of 41 points followed by HUBC with 41 points, UBL with 32 points, PPL with 31 points and OGDC with 28 points.
The sector propping up the index was sugar and allied industries with 3 points. The most points added to the index was by FFC which contributed 11 points followed by ATLH with 9 points, DAWH with 3 points, SML with 3 points and POL with 3 points. According to experts, uncertainty over the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme along with an increase in electricity prices and purchase of LNG cargoes at hefty prices brought the market down. They said that expectation of a gas price hike coupled with higher international oil prices kept inflationary concerns intact and market gains in check. They said that the market lost its momentum in reaction to a fake news being circulated regarding the prime minister’s dropping his plans to call International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalena Georgieva. However, in the later hours, Advisor to the PM on Finance Shaukat Tarin clarified that the news is “completely flawed and baseless and such a proposal was never under consideration”.
