Stock closed lower on Monday, as investors were cautious ahead of the elections due next month amid political disturbance and uncertainty over the central bank’s policy stance, dealers said.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE 100-share index fell 0.57 percent, or 368.26 points, to end at 64,269.38 points, after touching a high of 65,173.87 points earlier in the session. The KSE-30 index also shed 82.44 points or 0.38 percent to close at 21,548.42 points.
“The market was under pressure due to pre-poll uncertainty and concerns over the outcome of ongoing senate resolutions to postpone the elections,” said Ahsan Mehanti, an analyst at Arif Habib Corp.
"Political noise, geo-political uncertainty and uncertainty over the SBP policy announcement this month amid high inflation played a catalytic role in the bearish close." Traded shares decreased by 261 million shares to 382.012 million shares from 643.307 million shares. The trading value dropped to Rs14.076 billion from Rs20.021 billion. Market capital narrowed to Rs9.389 trillion against Rs9.453 trillion. Out of 363 companies active in the session, 96 closed in green, 249 in red and 18 remained unchanged.
Analyst Naveed Nadeem at Topline Securities said the market started the week on a positive note, but selling pressure emerged as the session progressed. "The equities exhibited a positive trend, reaching an intraday peak of 65,174, however, as the trading session unfolded, sellers entered the market, leading to a gradual decline in the earlier gains," Nadeem said.
"Consequently, EFERT, PPL, SYS, LUCK, and DGKC collectively contributed to a negative impact of 157 points on the index." The highest increase was recorded in Philip Morris (Pakistan) Limited, which rose by Rs44.34 to Rs635.59 per share, followed by Pakistan Hotels Developers Limited, which increased by Rs33.94 to Rs508.94 per share. A significant decline was noted in Nestle Pakistan Limited, which fell by Rs200 to Rs8,000 per share, followed by Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited, which closed lower by Rs150 to Rs9,400 per share.
Buying was witnessed in OGDC, PPL, and PSO which propelled the index above the 65,000 level. However, a lack of interest in other key sectors pushed the market into the red zone.
K-Electric Ltd. remained the volume leader with 55.031 million shares which closed lower by 18 paisas to Rs5.85 per share. Pak Int. Bulk followed it with 37.652 million shares, which closed lower by 48 paisas to Rs7.09 per share.
Other significant turnover stocks included WorldCall Telecom, Fauji Foods Ltd, Oil & Gas Dev., Pak Petroleum, Kohinoor Spining, Fauji Fert Bin, P.I.A.C. (A) and B.O. Punjab. A total of 312 companies recorded future shares, of which 48 increased, 253 decreased and 11 remained unchanged.