PSX sheds 313 points on political, geopolitical uncertainties

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) turned bearish amid political and geopolitical uncertainties, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding 313.02 points (-0.69 percent) to close at 45,362.85 points on Monday.

The market opened on a positive note and switched between the green and red territories for the first half an hour of the session; however, it succumbed to selling pressure later and remained negative for the rest of the session. However, robust corporate results of some companies limited the downside movement of the index.

Investors have become increasingly cautious about how to respond to news flow concerning Russia’s intentions over Ukraine, with bad news causing sharp equity market sell-offs while relief rallies have been moderate and short-lived. Heightened geopolitical risks combined with rising rampant inflationary concerns have added to the pressure on stock in recent weeks. Local indices also witnessed bearish spell as negative sentiments stemmed from consistent political uncertainty prevailing in the country.

The KSE-100 Index moved in a range of 400.77 points, showing an intraday high of 45,742.83 points and a low of 45,342.06 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 207.53 points (-0.66 percent) to close at 31,048.46 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index shed 179.33 points (-0.79 percent) to close at 22,425.51 points.

A total of 352 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of them shares of 100 closed up, shares of 232 closed down while shares of 20 companies remained unchanged. Out of 89 traded companies in the KSE-100 Index, 18 closed up, 69 closed down and two remained unchanged.

The overall market volumes decreased by 56.39 million to 137.66 million shares. Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index decreased by 51.47 million to 62.16 million shares. The number of total trades increased by 781 to 67,360, while the value traded decreased by Rs0.70 billion to Rs3.61 billion. Overall, market capitalisation decreased by Rs51.76 billion.

Among scrips, WTL topped the volumes with 19.09 million shares, followed by HUMNL (11.26 million) and KEL (8.95 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included WTL, HUMNL, KEL, SNGP and BOP, which formed around 39 percent of total volumes. In terms of rupee, SAPT remained the top gainer and witnessed an increase of Rs61.95 (5.91 percent) per share, closing at Rs1,109.45, whereas the runner-up was BTL, the share price of which climbed up by Rs14.99 (3.09 percent) to Rs499.99. AWTX remained the top loser in terms of rupee for the fourth straight day and witnessed a decrease of Rs118.09 (7.5 percent) per share, closing at Rs1,456.47, followed by SFL, the share price of which declined by Rs72.12 (7.5 percent) to close at Rs890 per share.

The sectors taking the index towards south were commercial banks with 65 points, cement (45 points), oil & gas exploration companies (37 points), technology & communication (31 points) and power generation & distribution (25 points). The most points taken off the index were by MEBL which stripped the index of 28 points followed by TRG (24 points), LUCK (23 points), MARI (21 points) and UBL (16 points).

The sectors taking the index towards north were real estate investment trust with 4 points and insurance (2 points). The most points added to the index were by BAHL which contributed 13 points followed by DCR and FATIMA (4 points each), NCL (3 points) and ABOT (2 points).