Market watch: Rupee depreciation pulls KSE-100 down

Benchmark index falls 192.81 points to settle at 47,635.90

KARACHI:

Share sell-off continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange for another day on Wednesday as the benchmark KSE-100 index dropped 193 points owing to persistent depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar.

The local currency depreciated by Rs1.08 against the greenback and closed at an 11-month low of Rs166.28, which triggered panic among investors about the current account balance. In addition, the rollover activity at the bourse added to the selling pressure.

Furthermore, a delay in the proposed refinery policy, which was expected to give a fresh impetus to the sector and attract foreign investment, also dented investor sentiment.

Earlier, trading kicked off on a positive note, however, the index soon succumbed to the selling pressure in the absence of positive triggers. The market remained on the downward trajectory for the rest of the session.

Though the investors made a few attempts to push the market into the positive territory, their efforts could not bear fruit. Late session buying helped erase some of the losses.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a decrease of 192.81 points, or 0.4%, to settle at 47,635.90.

Arif Habib Limited, in its report, stated that the market saw continuous selling pressure, which was partly due to the ongoing rollover activity and partly because of profit-booking in cement, fertiliser, technology and oil and gas sectors.

Among oil and gas marketing companies, PSO came under selling pressure, which had persisted since Tuesday, when the company disclosed its financial results to the dismay of investors.

Activity remained lacklustre and the KSE-100 index lost a total of 211 points after recording a gain of 88 points. The index closed down by 193 points.

Among engineering sector stocks, International Steels declared a hefty dividend besides posting good earnings. Its stock contributed to the high traded value and the uptick, the report added.

JS Global analyst Neelum Naz said that the benchmark KSE-100 index shed 193 points and closed at 47,636.

Total traded volume was recorded at 385 million shares where third-tier stocks namely WorldCall Telecom (+0.3%), Azgard Nine (+1.6%), Ghani Global Holdings (-5.3%), First National Equities (+4.4%) and Kohinoor Spinning (+4.2%) were the major contributors.

HabibMetro announced its 2QCY21 result during the session, reporting consolidated earnings of Rs2.89 per share and dividend payout of Rs2 per share.

“Going forward, the market looks attractive and a buy-on-dip strategy is advised in cement, steel, textile and oil and gas exploration sectors keeping the medium-term outlook in mind,” the analyst said.

Overall trading volumes fell to 384.6 million shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 395 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs11.5 billion.

Shares of 479 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 177 stocks closed higher, 282 declined and 20 remained unchanged.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 38 million shares, gaining Rs0.01 to close at Rs3.32. It was followed by Azgard Nine with 33.4 million shares, gaining Rs0.45 to close at Rs28.17 and Ghani Global Holdings with 22.1 million shares, losing Rs2.55 to close at Rs45.72.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs276.6 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.