Market watch: Bears drag KSE-100 down amid lack of optimism

Benchmark index tumbles 599.03 points to settle at 45,749.15

KARACHI:

The Pakistan Stock Exchange endured a hammering on Friday, as the benchmark KSE-100 index plummeted 599 points to close the week in the red.

Bears maintained their dominance for the second consecutive day owing mainly to the downtrend in the global equity markets and the decline in international crude oil prices.

Moreover, speculations over a thin weightage in Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Frontier Markets index triggered a foreign equity selloff which tarnished the trading environment.

Fresh slump in rupee value against the greenback on Friday which, according to experts, was due to the prevailing deadlock between Pakistan and International Monetary Fund (IMF) over resumption of $6 billion package, further dented the investors’ confidence who opted to mainly stay on the sidelines.

Following a brief spike at the start of the session, the market gradually fell as investors decided to book profits due to the negative triggers. Throughout the day, bearish sentiments marred the trading atmosphere given that all attempts to erase losses proved futile. A panic selling spell, emerging towards the end of the session, pulled the index down further.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a decline of 599.03 points, or 1.29%, to settle at 45,749.15.

JS Global analyst Waqar Iqbal said that the trading session started with lackluster volumes, where thin trading continued throughout the day.

Further drop in Pakistani rupee value against the US dollar, no progress on IMF agreement and no materialisation of Saudi assistance were the key reasons that kept sentiments negative from the start of the day.

Total traded volume stood at 192 million shares with Unity Foods Limited (2.9%), Ghani Global Holdings (2.8%), Byco Petroleum (-1.4%), Hum Network Limited (-2.1%) and Telecard Limited (-2.4%) being the highest contributors to the volume.

 “Going forward, the market will likely set its direction as per developments on the economic front,” the analyst said.

Overall trading volumes decreased to 192.46 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 269.5 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs7.66 billion.

Shares of 345 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 92 stocks closed higher, 236 declined and 17 remained unchanged.

Unity Foods Limited was the volume leader with 14.88 million shares, gaining Rs0.83 to close at Rs29. It was followed by Ghani Global Holdings with 14.55 million shares, gaining Rs0.9 to close at Rs33.09 and Byco Petroleum with 9.3 million shares, losing Rs0.1 to close at Rs7.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs97.06 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.