KARACHI
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a bloodbath on Monday amid uncertainty among investors over the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision regarding the policy rate, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index losing 1,047.71 points (-1.44 percent) to close at 71,695.03 points.
The MPC of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) kept the key interest rate unchanged at 22 percent for the seventh straight meeting, an announcement that was made after market hours. The key policy rate has remained unchanged at 22 percent since June 2023.
The central bank’s policy decision is to be followed by another key development, the IMF Executive Board meeting, to discuss the approval of $1.1 billion in funding for Pakistan, which is the last tranche of the $3 billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) with the IMF.
Earlier, the market opened on a sharp positive note as strong buying was witnessed in the initial hours of the session. However, profit-taking switched in soon after the benchmark index crossed the 73,000 points level. However, a selling spree soon took hold of the market and pushed the index below 72,000. Selling pressure was witnessed among all key sectors.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 1,607.81 points, showing an intraday high of 73,300.75 points and an intraday low of 71,602.94 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index lost 578.92 points (-1.23 percent) to close at 46,910.54 points. Similarly, the KMI All Share Islamic Index shed 457.75 points (-1.36 percent) to close at 33,545.52 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index remained 281.39 million shares, while the overall market volumes remained 613.31 million shares. Among scrips, HASCOL topped the volumes with 60.07 million shares, followed by FFBL (35.17 million) and PACE (32.65 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included HASCOL, FFBL, PACE, KEL, and TELE, which formed over 27 percent of total volumes.
A total of 383 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of which shares of 131 closed up, shares of 231 companies closed down while shares of 21 companies remained unchanged. A total of 99 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index, out of which share prices of 24 companies closed up, 74 companies closed down and one remained unchanged. The number of total trades remained 271,752, while the value traded was recorded at Rs26.31 billion.
In terms of rupee, HCL remained the top gainer with an increase of Rs86.32 (+7.49 percent) per share, closing at Rs1,239.14. The runner-up remained SAZEW, the share price of which climbed up by Rs31.33 (+4.72 percent) to Rs694.78. UPFL remained the top loser with a decrease of Rs600.21 (-2.98 percent) per share, closing at Rs19,553.71, followed by NESTLE, the share price of which fell by Rs338.41 (-4.33 percent) to close at Rs7,484.2 per share.
The major sectors taking the index towards south remained commercial banks (215.50 points), fertilizer (162 points), power and distribution companies (149 points), oil & gas exploration companies (147 points), cement (116 points), textile composite (39 points), investment banks/investment companies/ securities companies (32 points), miscellaneous (22 points), glass and ceramics (22 points), and oil & gas marketing companies (19 points).
Major companies depriving the index of points remained HUBC (147 points), EFERT (127 points), OGDC (59 points), FFC (55 points), LUCK (47 points), MARI and PPL (42 points each), NBP and BAHL (36 points each), and MTL (31 points).
The major sectors taking the index towards north remained cable & electrical goods and insurance (3 points each), leather and tanneries (2 points), and food and personal care products (one point).
Major companies adding points to the index remained FFBL (28 points), NATF (22 points), HINOON (14 points), INDU (13 points), AVN (9 points), FCEPL (6 points), SNGP, NPL and AICL (4 points each), and PAEL (3 points
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