The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed marginally lower on Friday as profit-taking in the latter half of the session erased early gains amid concerns over mounting losses of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) next review for loan tranche and the falling global crude oil prices.
The KSE-100 index, after touching intra-day high of 147,534, retreated to settle slightly below 146,500, down 38 points. Engro Fertilisers, Lucky Cement and Engro Holdings supported the index while Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC), UBL and Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) weighed on sentiment.
"Stocks closed flat amid concerns over SOE losses and next IMF review for the release of third tranche," noted Ahsan Mehanti, MD of Arif Habib Corp. Worries about the unmet IMF conditions for provincial tax collection and falling global crude oil prices fueled the negative close at the PSX, he said.
At the end of trading, the benchmark KSE-100 index posted a decline of 37.67 points, or 0.03%, and settled at 146,491.63.
Arif Habib Limited (AHL), in its market review, noted that the KSE-100 closed the week flat on Friday, capping gains at 0.7% week-on-week. Some 49 stocks advanced and another 49 declined, where Engro Fertilisers (+3.25%), Lucky Cement (+2.31%) and Engro Holdings (+1.63%) were the top contributors to index gains. On the flip side, OGDC (-2.57%), UBL (-1.34%), and PPL (-2.13%) dragged the index lower, it said.
AHL mentioned that the Economic Coordination Committee had approved the setting up of an industrial estate on 4,800 acres of unused Pakistan Steel Mills' land. For the coming week, the resistance for the index is seen near 148,000 with support around 145,000, it added.
Topline Securities, in its report, commented that the KSE-100 opened on a positive note and rose to intra-day high of 1,005 points. However, during the latter hours, profit-taking was observed as jittery investors booked profits before the weekend.
The top positive contribution to the index came from Engro Fertilisers, Lucky Cement, Engro Holdings, Meezan Bank and Airlink Communication as they contributed 512 points. On the other hand, OGDC, UBL, PPL, Hub Power and Mari Petroleum lost ground, pulling the index down by 499 points, it said.
Traded value-wise, Airlink (Rs3.38 billion), OGDC (Rs2.32 billion), PSO (Rs1.53 billion), Lucky Cement (Rs1.30 billion) and NBP (Rs1.11 billion) dominated the trading activity, Topline added.
Muhammad Hasan Ather of JS Global said that the KSE-100 closed 38 points down after trading within a tight range throughout the session. Activity remained range bound, driven by upbeat corporate earnings, and investor sentiment was underpinned by optimism about Pakistan's improving macroeconomic indicators and recent credit rating upgrades, he said.
Despite intra-day volatility, the market held firm, reflecting growing confidence in fiscal reforms and economic recovery. Going forward, investor focus will remain on earnings season, policy continuity and external inflows, with expectations of a gradual upward trend in equities amid improving fundamentals, the analyst added.
Overall trading volumes were recorded at 473.6 million shares, compared with the previous tally of 647.1 million. The value of shares traded was Rs32.9 billion.
Shares of 479 companies were traded. Of these, 226 stocks closed higher, 219 fell and 34 remained unchanged.
Aisha Steel Mills was the volume leader with trading in 30 million shares, gaining Rs0.55 to close at Rs13.47. It was followed by Media Times with 21.7 million shares, gaining Rs0.39 to close at Rs3.62 and Airlink Communication with 19.9 million shares, gaining Rs9.76 to close at Rs168.04. Foreign investors sold shares worth Rs154 million, the National Clearing Company reported.
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