Stocks shed 48 points after SC decision on reserved seats

KARACHI: Stocks witnessed a volatile session on Friday after the decision of the Supreme Court on reserved seats, which arrived in favour of the opposition reducing the majority of the ruling elite by 6.0 per cent to 62 per cent.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 share index decreased by 48.26 points or 0.06 per cent to 79,944.10 points against 79,992.35 points recorded in the last session. The highest index of the day remained at 80,321.69 points while the lowest level was recorded at 78,611.68 points.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said, “Stocks closed under pressure after opposition wins SC major ruling on reserved seats limiting government powers for constitutional amendment.”

He said uncertainty over the resolution of circular debt crises impacting $5 billion crucial investment, terms of rollover on $15 billion China energy debt, and Nepra’s approval of a massive power tariff hike played a catalyst role in the bearish close.

The KSE-30 index decreased by 43.93 points or 0.17 per cent to 25,500.49 points against 25,544.42 points.Traded shares increased by 48 million shares to 437.315 million shares from 389.024 million shares. The trading value rose to Rs23.484 billion from Rs20.924 billion. Market capital narrowed to Rs10.630 trillion against Rs10.630 trillion. Of 444 companies active in the session, 155 closed in green, 245 in red and 44 remained unchanged.

Nabeel Haroon, an analyst at Topline Securities, said a volatile session was observed on Friday, where index at one point declined by 1,380 or 1.73 per cent after the Supreme Court announced its verdict in the reserved seats case in favour of the PTI. “However, recovery was observed during the latter hours of trade as investors factored in that the PML-N ruling collation still has 62 per cent representation in the National Assembly; index recovered to finally settle at the 79,944 level (down by 0.06 per cent),” he said.

Major positive contributions to the index came from HUBC, OGDC, FFC, PSO and BAHL, as they cumulatively contributed 384 points; whereas HBL, FFBL, EFERT, SRVI and BAFL lost value to weigh down on the index by 415 points.

The highest increase was recorded in Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited shares, which rose by Rs99.06 to Rs7,699.27 per share, followed by Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited, which increased by Rs86.83 to Rs18,192.23 per share. A significant decline was noted in Data Agro Limited, which fell by Rs42.62 to Rs405.96 per share, Hoechst Pakistan Limited followed it, which closed lower by Rs30 to Rs1,500 per share.

Brokerage Arif Habib Ltd stated the PSX experienced a volatile trading session on Friday, and yet managed to maintain its position around the 80,000-point mark. For the week, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a decline of 0.42 per cent.

The session was particularly impacted by a decision from the Supreme Court of Pakistan, which ruled that the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to allocate reserved seats to parties other than the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was unconstitutional. This ruling reduced the ruling government’s majority in the National Assembly from 68 per cent to 62 per cent.

The court’s decision caused the market to gap down by 1.8 per cent day-over-day (DoD) before recovering and closing flat for the day. Despite the volatile trading, price action remains bullish, with Friday’s low of 78,600 providing a fresh structure for potential gains in the upcoming week.

As the market continues to navigate political and economic developments, maintaining support above the 80,000-point level is crucial for further upside movement. Analysts remain optimistic, citing the market’s ability to recover from intraday volatility as a positive indicator of investor confidence.

Fauji Fert Bin remained the volume leader with 45.357 million shares which closed higher by Rs2.60 to Rs40.85 per share. K-Electric Ltd. followed it with 33.085 million shares, which closed lower by 4 paisas to Rs4.81 per share.

Other significant turnover stocks included WorldCall Telecom, Air Link Commun, Habib Bank, Hum Network, Hub Power Co., PTCL, Ghandhara Automobile and Loads Limited.In the futures market, 304 companies recorded trading, of which 75 increased, 227 decreased and 2 remained unchanged.