The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) turned bearish on Monday amid surging oil prices due to Russia-Ukraine tension, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding 435.28 points (-0.94 percent) to close at 45,644.09 points.
The market switched between the green and red territories for the first 20 minutes and then surrendered to sellers in line with the trend set by global markets. Surging crude oil and commodity prices globally amid Russia-Ukraine tension, which have rattled the financial and equity markets across the globe, also kept the local bourse under pressure.
An increase in international coal prices hit the cement sector, which remained under pressure. Moreover, the rupee depreciated by 76 paisas (-0.43 percent) against the US dollar in the interbank market and fell to 175.47, which also dented the investors’ confidence.
The KSE-100 Index moved in a range of 626.42 points, showing an intraday high of 46,133.87 points and a low of 45,507.45 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 314.16 points (-0.99 percent) to close at 31,275.76 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index shed 235.62 points (-1.03 percent) to close at 22,574.45 points.
A total of 360 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of them shares of 65 closed up, shares of 276 closed down while shares of 19 companies remained unchanged. Out of 94 traded companies in the KSE-100 Index, 15 closed up, 74 closed down and five remained unchanged.
The overall market volumes increased by 17.18 million to 187.81 million shares. Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index decreased by 12.72 million to 84.57 million shares. The number of total trades increased by 4,258 to 99,337, while the value traded decreased by Rs1.78 billion to Rs5.95 billion. Overall, market capitalisation decreased by Rs72.53 billion.
Among scrips, WTL topped the volumes with 33.53 million shares, followed by TELE (9.88 million) and GGL (7.8 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included WTL, TELE, GGL, TRG and TPLP, which formed over 35 percent of total volumes.
In terms of rupee, MARI remained the top gainer and witnessed an increase of Rs25.82 (1.48 percent) per share, closing at Rs1,774.06 whereas the runner-up was KPUS, the share price of which climbed up by Rs6.26 (+7.5 percent) to Rs89.78. RMPL remained the top loser in terms of rupee and witnessed a decrease of Rs495 (4.54 percent) per share, closing at Rs10,405, followed by AWTX, the share price of which declined by Rs174.38 (7.5 percent) to close at Rs2,150.73 per share.
The sectors taking the index towards south were commercial banks with 77 points, technology & communication (63 points), fertilizer (54 points), cement (43 points) and engineering (32 points). The most points taken off the index were by SYS which stripped the index of 34 points followed by FFC (33 points), MEBL (31 points), LUCK (26 points) and DAWH (25 points).
The sectors taking the index towards north were chemical and insurance with 5 points each, and Sugar & Allied Industries (3 points). The most points added to the index were by MARI which contributed 17 points followed by SNGP (9 points), EPCL (8 points), EFERT (7 points) and AICL (5 points).
