Stocks start week with loss of 224 points amid profit-taking

KARACHI: Stocks closed lower by 224 points on Monday, as investors opted for profit-taking at the peak of trading. Analysts said political uncertainty was also a reason for a decline in the market.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 share index decreased by 223.95 points or 0.27 per cent to 81,850.5 points against 82,074.45 points recorded in the last session. The highest index of the day remained at 82,463.05 points while the lowest level was recorded at 81,548.65 points.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said, “Stocks closed lower on political uncertainty after the SC backs opposition bid for reserved seats in its detailed judgement and concerns for foreign selling.”

He said that uncertainty over privatization of SOEs; government action on IPPs capacity payment issue to terminate PPA; and concerns over terms of a new IMF programme played a catalyst role in the bearish close.

The KSE-30 index decreased by 56.93 points or 0.22 per cent to 25,977.37 points against 26,034.31 points.Traded shares dropped by 82 million shares to 400.31 million shares from 482.37 million shares. The trading value dropped to Rs18.69 billion from Rs30.19 billion. Market capital narrowed to Rs10.71 trillion against Rs10.72 trillion. Of the 439 companies active in the session, 143 closed in green, 237 in red and 59 remained unchanged.

Naveed Nadeem, an analyst at Topline Securities, said the benchmark KSE-100 Index closed the trading session at 81,850, reflecting a decrease of 224 points, or 0.27 per cent.Profit-taking was largely seen in HUBC, MARI, PPL, OGDC and BAFL, which collectively contributed to a decline of 634 points in the index.

The highest increase was recorded in Sapphire Fibres Limited, which rose by Rs129.8 to Rs1,429.9 per share, followed by Ismail Industries Limited, which increased by Rs124.19 to Rs1,750.13 per share. A significant decline was noted in Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited, which fell by Rs228.70 to Rs17,387.55 per share. Sazgar Engineering Works Limited followed it, which closed lower by Rs45.88 to Rs973.75 per share.

Brokerage Arif Habib Ltd stated that the KSE-100 Index faced selling pressure on Monday following FTSE rebalancing, which led to a challenging session.

OGDC posted its FY23 earnings, announcing an EPS of Rs48.59, a 7.0 per cent decline year-on-year. Fourth-quarter EPS came in at Rs8.81, a sharp 42 per cent drop year-on-year, falling short of expectations. Alongside the earnings, the company declared a final cash dividend of Rs4/share (totalling Rs10.10/share for FY24).

Looking ahead, the KSE-100 is expected to find support around the 81k level, with a potential rebound targeting 83k in the near term.Pace (Pak) Ltd remained the volume leader with 30.381 million shares which closed lower by 89 paisas to Rs5.39 per share. WorldCall Telecom followed it with 29.117 million shares, which closed lower by 3 paisas to Rs1.28 per share.

Other significant turnover stocks included Oil & Gas Dev, Symmetry Group Ltd, Hub Power Co XD, Fauji Fert Bin, Secure Logistics Gro, Kohinoor Spinning, Cnergyico PK and Nishat ChunPow. In the futures market, 344 companies recorded trading, of which 107 increased, 234 decreased and 3 remained unchanged.