Stocks fall on economic red flags

Stocks shed a good deal of gains made a day earlier as an anaemic economic outlook coupled with a global rout sent investors fleeing to safety, traders said.

KSE-100 Share Index lost 489.72 points or 1.02 percent to close at 47,563.45 points at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). The index oscillated between a high of 48,053.17 points and a low of 47,546.01 points.

Ahsan Mehanti, analyst at Arif Habib Corp said the losses were led by scrips across the board on concerns over weak economic outlook.

Weak global equities, rupee instability, uncertainty on EU GSP plus status on human right issues, concerns over non-disbursement of $400 million World Bank loan delayed because of weak IMF ties shook investor sentiment, Mehanti said.

KSE-30 Index also took a hit of 255.03 points or 1.32 percent to close at 19,110.87 points.

Turnover ticked up 30 million shares to 505.99 million against 475.23 million shares, while trading value slumped to Rs15.37 billion compared to Rs21.31 billion on Thursday. The market capital lowered to Rs8.315 trillion from Rs8.372 trillion. As many as 406 shares were active in the session of which 159 were upwardly mobile, 237 failed to hold their ground, while 10 made no move at all.

Nabeel Haroon, analyst at Topline Securities, said, the index returned to its course as after a positive session on Thursday, the market succumbed to selling pressure.

Major damage came from TRG, LUCK, KAPCO, HUBC, and PAKT, as they cumulatively weighed knocked 214 points out of the index.

On the other hand, City Pharma on the first day of its listing witnessed an increase of 7.5 percent in its trading. The drug-maker saw its 14.90 million shares changing hands, while it gained Rs2.4 to close at Rs34.40 from its opening value of Rs32 per share.

Friday’s top gainer was Unilever Foods, up Rs634 to Rs16,189 per share, followed by Rafhan

Maize, rising Rs501 to Rs10,400 per share.

Pak Tobacco suffered most losses, falling Rs75.44 to Rs1,254.56 per share, followed by Gatron Industries, losing Rs37.68 to close at Rs473.10 per share.

Moreover, Pakistan oil production in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2021 increased 3 percent to 74,700 bpd as decline was visible in nearly all major fields i.e., Nashpa, Adhi, Makori East, Maramzai, Chanda, Mardankhel, and Makori Deep (to the tune of 2-17 percent).

Production from Tal Block fields like Makori East, Mardankhel, Makori Deep etc dropped due to Annual Turn-Around (ATA) in Mid Apr-2021.

Some of the well-traded stocks were TPL Corp Ltd, Pace (Pak) Ltd, WorldCall Telecom, Byco Petroleum, Pervez Ahmed Co, Citi Pharma Ltd, Ist Dawood Bank, Invest Bank, Silk Bank Ltd, and Dewan Cement.

TPL Corp Ltd posted the highest volume with 41.97 million shares. The share gained Rs1.29 to Rs19.67 per share.

It was followed by Pace (Pak) Ltd with 27.11 million shares. The scrip closed higher by 31 paisas to Rs7.88 per share.

Turnover in the future contracts decreased to 62.84 million shares from 89.26 million traded in the previous session.