Stocks closed down on Tuesday, as investors remained jittery over the worsening economic and political situation of the country with depleting foreign exchange reserves and its impact being the biggest worry, traders said.
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) benchmark KSE 100-share index declined 0.88 percent or by 352.25 points to close at 39,802.91 points against 40,155.16 points recorded in the last session. Intraday high was 40,315.22 points, while the lowest level of the day was recorded at 39,705.42 points.
Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said, “Stocks closed lower on rupee instability and forex crises impacting industrials.”
Political uncertainty, projections over higher inflation in December 2022 and concerns over the International Monetary Fund (IMF) extended finance facility review delays on rift over government’s petroleum levies and budgeted flood losses played a catalytic role in the bearish close, Mehanti added.
KSE-30 index also decreased by 102.19 points or 0.69 percent to close at 14,676.13 points compared with 14,778.32 points recorded in the last session.
Traded shares increased by 7 million shares to 153.741 million shares from 146.880 million shares previously. Trading value rose to Rs5.537 billion from Rs5.134 billion. Market capital narrowed to Rs6.376 trillion from Rs6.409 trillion. Out of 322 companies active in the session, 98 closed in green, 212 in red and 12 remained unchanged.
Muhammad Arbash, an analyst at Topline Securities, said equities closed negative where the benchmark KSE100 settled at 39,802 points level (down 0.88 percent). “Lack of confidence over Pakistan’s economy and delayed IMF programme led the market to witness profit-taking where market made an intraday low of 449 points,” he added.
Major negative contributors in the trading session were Engro Fertilizers, United Bank, Oil and Gas Development Company, Engro, and Systems Limited, which cumulatively dented the index by 151 points.
The highest increase was recorded in the shares of Rafhan Maize, up Rs559.85 to close at Rs8,024.52/share, followed by Nestle Pakistan, up Rs347.88 to close at Rs5,577.75/share. A significant decline was noted in the shares of Pak Services, down Rs119.90 to end at Rs1,479.10/share, followed by Colgate Palm, down Rs79.83 to end at Rs1,890.17/share.
One analyst said that investors had concerns over Pakistan’s economy and political situation, which forced them towards profit-taking in the session. He said that the instability of the rupee and depleting forex reserves were the major concerns besides delays in talks with the IMF.
Due to the rupee's instability, he said, there was uncertainty in the market and people were moving towards other sources of investment, particularly commodities. Thus, gold and silver prices were touching new highs.
Bank Al-Falah remained the volume leader with 16.339 million shares. Its scrip decreased by 4 paisas to stand at Rs29.96/share. It was followed by Pak Petroleum with 12.467 million shares that closed lower by 67 paisas to stand at Rs61.11/share.
Other stocks that recorded significant turnover included Bank of Punjab, WorldCall Telecom, TRG Pak Ltd, Air Link Commun, Cnergyico PK, TPL Properties, Hum Network and Kohinoor Spinning.
Shares’ turnover in the future contracts decreased to 99.537 million shares from 111.441 million shares.
