The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed bearish on Tuesday as investors resorted to profit-booking, pulling the benchmark KSE-100 index down by 1,415 points, or 1.02%, to settle at 137,965.
In the morning, the session resumed on a strong note, with the index hitting intra-day high of 140,331, up 951 points, on optimism over reports that a trade and tariff deal between Pakistan and the US was nearing finalisation. However, early momentum faded as investors opted for profit-taking and switching sectors ahead of the upcoming monetary policy meeting, where a 50-basis-point rate cut is expected.
In its commentary, Arif Habib Limited (AHL) stated that the PSX saw another day where the 140,000-point mark proved too heavy to hold by the close of trading.
Day-on-day, the index lost 1.02%. Some 23 shares rose while 76 fell, with Fauji Fertiliser Company (+0.75%), Ghana Glass Limited (+9.44%) and Meezan Bank (+0.83%) contributing the most to index gains. On the flip side, Engro Holdings (-3.17%), Engro Fertilisers (-5.12%) and UBL (-1.8%) were the biggest drags, it said.
AHL noted that Fauji Fertiliser announced its first-half earnings per share (EPS) of Rs27.02, an increase of 5% year-on-year, with dividend of Rs19 per share. “This beat earnings and payout expectations.”
Additionally, Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (+1.43%) received letters of intent from the Port Qasim Authority and Karachi Port Trust for jointly exploring investment opportunities to increase fleet/shipping business of the company, AHL mentioned.
In its closing remarks, the brokerage house said “the KSE-100 is now in the 137,200-138,200 support zone and we anticipate that the first offered support will hold and push the index towards 140,500.”
AHL Deputy Head of Trading Ali Najib remarked that initially, trading resumed on a strong note on the back of news regarding trade and tariff deal between Pakistan and the US, which was nearing completion.
The benchmark index hit intra-day high at 140,331 (up 951 points). At the day’s high, investors chose to book profit through some sector switching ahead of monetary policy meeting where street expectations pointed to a 50-basis-point cut, Najib added.
Overall trading volumes increased to 606.3 million shares compared with Monday’s tally of 589.3 million. Traded value decreased to Rs32.7 billion as compared to Rs34.6 billion in the previous session.
Shares of 484 companies were traded. Of these, 108 stocks closed higher, 350 dropped and 26 remained unchanged. Telecard Limited was the volume leader with trading in 38.7 million shares, gaining 24 paisa to close at Rs7.84.
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