PSX gains 53 points in volatile session as volumes return

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) snapped the losing streak, albeit with a thin margin, on Tuesday amid return of volumes in a volatile session, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining 53.73 points (+0.12 percent) to close at 43,883.08 points.

The market opened on a slightly positive note that was followed by a selling spree, which continued for the next four hours. At one point, the market shed almost 680 points. However, the market recovered the losses in the last couple of hours and managed to close in positive.

The KSE-100 Index moved in a range of 801.9 points, showing an intraday high of 44,051.1 points and a low of 43,149.2 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 36.62 points (+0.12 percent) to close at 30,226.4 points, while All Share Islamic Index gained 12.47 points (+0.06 percent) to close at 21,468.6 points. A total of 362 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of them shares of 144 closed up, shares of 199 closed down while shares of 19 companies remained unchanged. Out of 96 traded companies in the KSE-100 Index, 51 closed up and 45 closed down. The overall market volumes increased by 178.34 million to 404.91 million shares. Total volume traded for the KSE-100 Index was 188.66 million shares. The number of total trades increased by 36,604 to 130,846, while the value traded increased by Rs7.33 billion to Rs15.60 billion. The market capitalisation increased by Rs8.68 billion.

Among scrips, WTL led the table with 51.14 million shares, followed by TELE (27.58 million) and TREET (21.78 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include WTL, TELE, TREET, UNITY and BOP, which formed over 33 percent of total volumes. The sectors propping up the index were commercial banks with 215 points, cement with 60 points, engineering with 12 points, oil & gas marketing companies with 8 points and pharmaceuticals with 7 points. The most points added to the index were by HBL which contributed 76 points followed by UBL with 31 points, ABL with 22 points, BAHL with 18 points and BOP with 15 points.

Sector wise, the index was let down by technology & communication with 113 points, food & personal care products with 29 points, power generation & distribution with 22 points, fertilizer with 20 points and textile composite with 14 points. The most points taken off the index were by TRG which stripped the index of 90 points followed by FFC with 20 points, SYS with 20 points, SEARL with 16 points and HUBC with 15 points.

According to experts, the capital market endured a volatile session, with bears continuing to dominate across the board amid a lack of positive triggers which forced the index to lose more than 600 points. They said the no-confidence motion against Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal, submitted by 14 members of the Balochistan Assembly a day earlier, also dented investors’ sentiments. However, on the back of increased market participation in the later hours, the KSE-100 index managed to close in a green zone.