Market watch: KSE-100 retreats, gives in to selling pressure
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) succumbed to selling pressure on Monday and the benchmark KSE-100 index edged down over 60 points after recouping most of the midday losses.
Uncertainty in global markets, in the wake of a worsening coronavirus situation across the world, took a toll on Pakistan’s bourse and triggered sell-off in index-heavy stocks.
Moreover, political instability following continued tussle between the opposition and the government impacted the investment climate.
Encouraging foreign direct investment (FDI) data, announced during the session, which touched a 10-month high of $317.4 million in October, failed to lift the benchmark index upwards.
Following a brief open in the positive, the bourse turned bearish as investors resorted to divesting their holdings. The KSE-100 index staged a modest recovery after midday with market participants acting to erase the losses. Nevertheless, the index succumbed to the selling pressure and failed to close the day on a positive note.
At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a decrease of 64.60 points, or 0.16%, to settle at 40,504.75 points.
Arif Habib Limited, in its report, stated that the investors had the same sombre mood in the market which was witnessed on last trading day of the previous week.
The index kept oscillating between intraday low and high of -99 points and +221 points. It finally closed in the red.
“Banks, exploration and production, and cement sector stocks tried to break the ceiling as international crude oil prices posted 2% growth during the trading session,” it added.
Investors seemed perturbed by the law and order situation in and around the capital city, Islamabad, as well as political wrangling between the opposition and the government.
Sui Northern Gas Pipelines recovered from the disdain shown by investors on Friday and after trading below last trading day’s closing price posted intra-session gains to cross the previous level.
Sectors contributing to the performance included exploration and production (-48 points), textile (-25 points), cement (-16 points), power (+19 points) and banks (+14 points).
Individually, stocks that contributed positively to the index included UBL (+20 points), K-Electric (+10 points), Fauji Fertiliser (+9 points), Fauji Cement (+9 points) and Hubco (+9 points).
Stocks that contributed negatively were Pakistan Petroleum (-19 points), Oil and Gas Development Company (-17 points), Lucky Cement (-17 points), Pakistan Oilfields (-9 points) and Systems Limited (-9 points).
Overall, trading volumes fell to 181.4 million shares compared with Friday’s tally of 243.1 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs6.2 billion.
Shares of 366 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 142 stocks closed higher, 202 declined and 22 remained unchanged.
K-Electric was the volume leader with 24.9 million shares, gaining Rs0.18 to close at Rs3.75. It was followed by Maple Leaf Cement with 14.5 million shares, losing Rs0.33 to close at Rs40.03 and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines with 14.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.05 to close at Rs47.19.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs590.8 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.