Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) wrapped up another turbulent week in negative territory as mounting global economic uncertainties and the intensifying US-China trade tensions dampened investor confidence.
The benchmark KSE-100 index declined over 1,300 points to close at 114,853. Market activity was overshadowed by broad-based pressure, with heavyweight stocks such as UBL, Fauji Fertiliser Company, Engro Fertilisers, Engro and Mari Petroleum pulling the index down by 837 points.
Despite the bearish trend, select pharmaceutical stocks bucked the trend, where Glaxo surged 7.10%. Trading activity was led by Kohat Cement, Glaxo, Pak Elektron, Honda Atlas Cars and Mari Petroleum. Notably, Honda announced plans to launch hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), signalling long-term growth potential in the auto sector.
"Stocks closed sharply lower in the earnings season on bearish global equities and weak global crude oil prices amid fears over the outcome of US-China trade war," said Arif Habib Corp MD Ahsan Mehanti.
Rupee instability and 9% year-on-year decline in cement sales for March played the role of catalysts in bearish close at the PSX, he said.
At the end of trading, the benchmark KSE-100 index posted a decline of 1,335.88 points, or 1.15%, and settled at 114,853.33.
Arif Habib Limited (AHL) wrote that it was another weak session for the stock exchange, with the benchmark index slipping 1.15% day-on-day and 3.31% week-on-week (WoW), reflecting a highly volatile week for global markets.
On Friday, 31 stocks posted gains while 64 declined. Major contributors to the index's downward movement included UBL (-3.53%), Fauji Fertiliser Company (-1.85%) and Engro Fertilisers (-3.82%). On the upside, Glaxo (+7.10%), Pak Elektron (+5.17%) and Systems Limited (+1.06%) provided some support to the index, it said.
Looking ahead, another volatile week is expected starting Monday, with a continued downside bias for Pakistan's market, AHL added.
Topline Securities commented that volatility persisted as the US-China trade war intensified. Pressure was observed at the local bourse as the KSE-100 index largely traded in the negative zone.
The top negative contribution to the index came from UBL, Fauji Fertiliser Company, Engro Fertilisers, Engro Holdings and Mari Petroleum as they dragged the index down by 837 points, it said.
Investor interest was observed in the pharmaceutical sector, which closed 4.1% higher. Among other important developments, Honda Atlas Cars, in a notice to the exchange, announced that the company was planning to introduce HEV models in the near future.
Muhammad Hasan Ather of JS Global said that the KSE-100 index closed down by 1.2% at 114,853, snapping Thursday's rally. The index hit a session low of 114,640, marking an intra-day decline of 1.3%.
The market slid amid global economic uncertainty, declining cement sales, rupee instability and falling crude oil prices, all compounded by concerns over the US-China trade war. Despite the broader market dip, the pharma sector outperformed, closing entirely in the green, the analyst said.
Overall trading volume was recorded at 458.6 million shares compared with the previous session's tally of 638.1 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs31.6 billion.
Shares of 441 companies were traded on the ready market. Of these, 137 stocks closed higher, 244 fell and 60 remained unchanged.
Pak Elektron was the volume leader with trading in 40.7 million shares, gaining Rs2.32 to close at Rs47.18. It was followed by Sui Southern Gas Co with 38.1 million shares, gaining Rs0.39 to close at Rs39.52 and The Bank of Punjab with 33.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.53 to close at Rs11.18. During the day, foreign investors sold shares worth Rs80 million, according to the NCCPL.
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