Stocks closed lower on Thursday as profit selling snapped the market’s four-day winning streak amid talks of an IMF-friendly budget this year, traders said. The Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE 100-share Index ended lower by 456.25 points or 1.08 percent to 41,686.46 points against 42,142.71 points recorded in the last session.
Ahsan Mehanti, an analyst at Arif Habib Corp, said, “Stocks fell across the board on pre-budget uncertainty after govt endeavours for IMF friendly budget to deal IMF board review this month for release bailout tranche.” The highest index of the day remained at 42,307.12 points while the lowest level of the day was recorded at 41,648.84 points. Mehanti said investor concerns about the outcome of IMF assertions regarding inadequate external financing commitments, improper foreign exchange markets functioning, and strengthen debt sustainability in the federal budget FY24 had played a catalyst role in the bearish close.
KSE-30 index also decreased by 200.89 points or 1.34 percent to 14,742.36 points compared with 14,943.25 points recorded in the last session. Traded shares decreased by 129 million shares to 203.789 million shares from 332.534 million shares. The trading value decreased to Rs5.848 billion from Rs7.148 billion.
Market capital narrowed to Rs6.372 trillion from Rs6.406 trillion. Out of 325 companies active in the session, 98 closed in green, 206 in red and 21 remained unchanged. According to Ali Najib, an analyst at Topline Securities, equities lost a 4-day winning streak and succumbed to selling pressure. “It is pertinent to note that it was 3rd try by the benchmark index to get some stability above 42k psychological level since Feb’23 but it hasn’t got luck yet,” he said. E&P, technology, and banking sector stocks contributed negatively to the index where POL, SYS, TRG, MCB and HBL lost 202 points, cumulatively. However, COLG, UNITY and IBFL being major positive contributors, added 58 points collectively.
The highest increase was recorded in Rafhan Maize shares, which rose by Rs218 to Rs8,550 per share, followed by Unilever Foods, which increased by Rs199 to Rs23,199 per share. A significant decline was noted in Allawasaya Tex, which fell by Rs241.81 to Rs2,988 per share, followed by Pak Services, which decreased by Rs50 to Rs850 per share. Brokerage Arif Habib Ltd said profit selling was witnessed at the PSX Thursday. “The benchmark KSE-100 index opened in the green but soon the jobbers took over as profit selling kept the market choppy, as investors opted to book profits after 3 consecutive positive sessions closing the bourse in the red,” it reported.
Sectors contributing to the performance included commercial banks (-131.9 points), technology and communication (-89.5 points), E&P’s (-81.5 points), cement (-49.4 points) and OMCs (-34.2 points). Unity Foods Ltd remained the volume leader with 28.723 million shares which closed higher by 66 paisas to Rs15.16 per share. It was followed by WorldCall Telecom with 17.617 million shares, which closed lower by 4 paisas to Rs1.18 per share.
Other significant turnover stocks included TPL Properties, Pak Refinery, P.I.A.C. (A), Pak Int. Bulk, Fauji Foods Ltd, Hascol Petrol, Telecard Limited and Fauji Cement. Shares’ turnover in the future contracts decreased to 73.056 million shares from 89.333 million shares.