Profit-taking drags PSX lower

Stocks fell on Monday, with selling picking up early in the session, as investors cashed in some of the recent market gains amid political uncertainty, dealers said.

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) benchmark KSE 100-share index closed lower by 242.12 points or 0.56 percent to stand at 42,850.83 points against 43,092.95 points recorded in the last session.

Intraday high was 43,092.95 points, while the lowest level of the day was recorded at 42,761.93 points. Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said stocks fell across the board on institutional profit-taking following reports that IMF demanded for Rs800 billion additional revenue targets for FY23. Other concerns were on political noise, and weak sales data for cement, auto and oil sector in October 2022.

“Global equities’ uncertainty, likely mini-budget to tax and postponement of Pakistan-IMF talks played a catalytic role in the bearish close,” he added. KSE-30 index also increased by 69.44 points or 0.44 percent to stand at 15,729.04 points compared with 15,798.48 points recorded in the last session.

Volume decreased by 47 million shares to stand at 185.537 million shares from 232.788 million shares traded previously. The trading value dropped to Rs6.017 billion from Rs7.625 billion.

Market capital narrowed to Rs6.868 trillion from Rs6.897 trillion. Out of 353 companies active in the session, 120 closed in green, 211 in red and 22 remained unchanged.

Ali Najib, an analyst at Topline Securities, said equities commenced the week on a negative note in the backdrop of delay in Pakistan and IMF talks, rescheduling of the Saudi Crown Prince’s visit and a rally on the global commodity front where international oil prices were trading up over 3 percent.

Pakistan Petroleum, Oil and Gas Development Company, Pakistan Services Limited, Engro and Pakistan Oilfields Limited lost 141 points, cumulatively. On the flip side, TRG, Lotte Chemical and HBL witnessed some profit-taking as they added 133 points collectively.

Gatron Ind recorded highest increase of Rs28.01 to close at Rs430/share, followed by Reliance Cotton, which went up Rs19 to close at Rs636/share. Allawasaya Tex recorded significant decline of Rs213.18 to close at Rs2,629.38/share, followed by Pak Services, down Rs55.75 to end at Rs712/share.

Brokerage Arif Habib Ltd said the KSE-100 index started the week off poorly. “The market started off in the red and proceeded to trade in the same range reaching an intraday low of 42,761.88 points due to lack of investors’ participation,” it reported. “Mainboard activity remained flat as the 3rd tier stocks continued to be the volume leaders.”

Sectors contributing to the performance included exploration and production (-86.5 points), cement (-38.4 points), fertiliser (-37.2 points), commercial banks (-37.0 points) and miscellaneous (-31.3 points).

Hascol Petrol remained the volume leader with 26.558 million shares which increased by 27 paisa to stand at Rs7.88 per share. It was followed by PTCL with 12.833 million shares that closed higher by 21 paisa to end at Rs7.60 per share.

Other stocks that recorded significant turnover included Lotte Chemical, TRG Pak Ltd, WorldCall Telecom, Dewan Motors, Cnergyico Pk, TPL Properties, Pakistan Petroleum and Pakistan Refinery. Shares’ turnover in the future contracts decreased to 52.559 million shares from 56.523 million shares.