KARACHI, (TLTP): Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a volatile session on Monday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding 211.31 points (-0.32 percent) amid profit-taking to close at 66,012.32 points.
The market opened on a slight negative note but turned to green territory soon and hit the day’s high within the first 15 minutes after opening. Later, the indices continued to switch between the green and red territories.
According to experts, the market was in an overbought territory and correction was likely. They said the market’s focus has now shifted to the upcoming monetary policy, as the Monetary Policy Committee of the State Bank of Pakistan will meet on Tuesday (December 12). They said the market witnessed profit-taking, especially from leveraged buyers, after negative news related to refineries came to surface.
They said the market also responded to Pakistan State Oil’s contradiction to a news report about divestment of 30 percent shares of Pakistan Refinery Limited to a Chinese group. The news of Chinese investment in PRL last week drove expectations of a large gain in PSO earnings and expectations of lower cash flow drain for the refinery up-gradation.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 1,435.05 points, showing an intraday high of 66,564.04 points and an intraday low of 65,128.99 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 165.03 points (-0.38 percent) to close at 43,716.49 points. Similarly, the KMI All Share Islamic Index shed 173.65 points (-0.54 percent) to close at 31,949.22 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index decreased by 204.95 million shares to 613.39 million shares against 818.34 million shares traded in the previous session. The overall market volumes decreased by 113.65 million shares to 1,215.9 million shares against 1,329.55 million shares traded a session earlier.
Among scrips, KEL topped the volumes with 164.64 million shares, followed by WTL (93.32 million) and KOSM (65.31 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included KEL, WTL, KOSM, PTC, and AKBL, which formed over 36 percent of total volumes.
A total of 386 companies traded shares in the stock exchange against 394 in the previous session, out of which shares of 159 closed up, shares of 224 companies closed down while shares of 3 companies remained unchanged. A total of 98 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against the same number of companies in the previous session, out of which share prices of 34 companies closed up and 64 companies closed down.
The number of total trades increased to 325,295 from 306,856 in the previous session, while the value traded increased by Rs0.04 billion to Rs33.42 against Rs33.38 billion in the previous session.
In terms of rupee, MARI remained the top gainer with an increase of Rs101.41 (+4.91 percent) per share, closing at Rs2,168.82. The runner-up remained SFL, the share price of which climbed up by Rs98.27 (+6.53 percent) to Rs1,603.27. NESTLE remained the top loser with a decrease of Rs350 (-3.93 percent) per share, closing at Rs8,550, followed by RMPL, the share price of which fell by Rs291 (-2.58 percent) to close at Rs10,999 per share.
The sectors taking the index towards south were commercial banks (254 points), power generation & distribution (100 points), oil & gas marketing companies (70 points), cement (64 points), and refinery (45 points). The major companies depriving the index of points remained HUBC (113 points), HBL (89 points), MEBL (72 points), PSO (67 points), and UBL (55 points).
The major sectors taking the index towards north remained fertilizer (220 points), technology & communication (77 points), oil &
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