The capital market ended flat on Wednesday after nose-diving more than three percent during the early hours due to tensions at the Line of Control and airspace violations by the Indian Army, dealers said.
Madiha Javed, head of research at Ismail Iqbal Securities said, “Border tension with India weighed heavily today with the market dropping 3.8 percent in the first few hours of the trading session. However, Pakistan’s retaliation was covered widely in the international media, she added.
Close to the end of the trading session, Prime Minister Imran Khan addressed the nation explaining Pakistan’s stance, cautioning against miscalculation in matters of war, and inviting India to dialogue for a peaceful resolution.
“The market gained confidence with the short speech, reversing most of the day’s losses. Investors were active with total volumes of 274 million shares,
highest in the past three months,” she added.
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 shares index lost 0.33 percent or 128.98 points to close at 38,692.69 points level.
KSE-30 shares index followed suit with a low of 0.22 percent or 40.77 points to end at 18,662.69 points level.
Of 370 active scrips, 72 moved up, 290 retreated, and eight remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 273.685 billion shares, as compared with the turnover of 161.891 billion shares in the previous session.
Analyst Ahsan Mehanti from Arif Habib Corporations said stocks remained bearish amid major fall, after escalated tensions between Pakistan and India forced investors to the sidelines.
“Institutional support was witnessed in late session rally in oversold fertiliser and energy stocks.”
Foreign outflows and uncertainty over terms of $12 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout package played a catalytic role in the bearish close, Mehanti added.
The stock market in three sessions has lost near to 3,000 points mainly because of the worrisome words from the neighbour, which resulted in small scale skirmishes at the border.
Arif Habib Limited in its post-market note attributed volumetric contributions to Bank of Punjab, K-Electric, Fauji Cement Company Limited, Engro Polymer and Chemicals Limited, and Lotte Chemicals, which formed 33 percent of the total volumes.
Pakistan Petroleum added 26 points to the index, HBL 16 points, Bank al Hahib 11 points, and Meezan Bank added 10 points to the KSE-100.
Stocks that contributed negatively include Muslim Commercial Bank, which took away 25 points, Oil and Gas Development Company Limited 19 points, Indus Motors 12 points, K-Electric 10 points, and HASCOL that chipped away nine points, report added. The highest gainers were Pakistan Tobacco, up Rs101.28 to close at Rs2,516.28/share, and Millat Tractors, up Rs12.96 to finish at Rs838.06/share.
Companies that booked highest losses were Rafhan Maize, down Rs100.00 to close at Rs7,100.00/share, and Bata Pakistan, down Rs74.01 to close at Rs1,531.00/share.
Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited recorded the highest volumes with a turnover of Rs3,699 thousand shares. The scrip gained Rs0.32 to close at Rs41.48/share.
The lowest volumes were witnessed in Bank of Punjab; recording a turnover of 35.079 billion shares, whereas the scrip lost Rs0.14 to end at Rs12.24/share.
