Market watch: KSE-100 falls 246 points in sixth successive negative close

Benchmark index drops 0.59% to finish trading at 41,623.52

KARACHI: The KSE-100 Index dropped for the sixth successive trading session, reaching close to 41,500 points as selling pressure persisted amid concerns over Pakistan's macroeconomic indicators and political uncertainty.

Concerns over falling foreign exchange reserves added to worries as the index plunged over 400 points in intra-day trading before staging a slight recovery.

At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a decrease of 246.13 points or 0.59% to settle at 41,623.52.

JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said the Pakistan Stock Exchange experienced another lacklustre session and the index traded between the intra-day high of 105 points and low of 412 points to close at 41,623.



"Despite dull activity, the market appeared to consolidate as prices fell to attractive levels. On the economic front, foreign exchange reserves continued the downtrend and declined by $219 million to $17.067 billion," he said.

Mixed sentiments were witnessed in the banking sector where MCB Bank (+1.01%) and United Bank (+0.64%) closed positive while on the flipside Habib Bank (-0.44%) and National Bank (-0.88%) lost value.

The cement sector continued its declining trend as heavyweights such as Fauji Cement (-2.49%), Lucky Cement (-2.26%), Pioneer Cement (-0.99%) and Cherat Cement (-1.44%) closed in the red.

"We expect bearish sentiments to persist on the back of political uncertainties and concerning economic indicators. Hence, we recommend investors to remain cautious in trading," he added.



Shares of 313 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 78 stocks closed higher, 218 declined while 17 remained unchanged.

Overall, trading volumes rose to 82.8 million shares compared with Thursday's tally of 56.9 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs4.3 billion.

K-Electric was the volume leader with 5.9 million shares, losing Rs0.11 to close at Rs6.01. It was followed by Sui Southern Gas Company with 5.6 million shares, gaining Rs0.82 to close at Rs36.86 and Pak Elektron (XD) with 5.2 million shares, losing Rs1.39 to close at Rs35.56.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs354.1 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.