KARACHI, (TLTP): Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) extended losses on Wednesday amid International Monetary Fund’s delay to approve Pakistan’s request for recovering August’s electricity bills in installments amid raging protests in many parts of the country, with the KSE-100 Index bleeding 525.86 points (-1.12 percent) to settle at 46,244.55 points.
The market opened on a negative note but switched between the red and green territories during the first three hours’ trading. However, later bears controlled the market and it kept bleeding till the end of the session. Any attempt by the caretaker government to lower the electricity charges may invite the suspension of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme. Moreover, the rupee’s continuous depreciation against the US dollar kept the investors at bay.
In a related development, US Acting Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland held a phone call with Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani on Wednesday during which she assured him of Washington’s support to stabilise Pakistan’s economy and its continued engagement with the IMF. This development can provide a cushion to the bourse on Thursday.
Moreover, political uncertainty in the country is haunting the stock market. The market sentiment has been dampened by the rising political uncertainty. The Election Commission has not issued the election schedule.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 756.55 points showing an intraday high of 46,857.88 points and an intraday low of 46,101.33 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 295.71 points (-0.96 percent) to close at 30,819.60 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index shed 260.94 points (-1.17 percent) to close at 22,210.47 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index decreased by 9.58 million shares to 101.47 million shares against 111.05 million shares traded a session earlier. The overall market volumes decreased by 17.56 million shares to 200.29 million shares against 217.85 million shares traded a session earlier.
Among scrips, WTL topped the volumes with 16.32 million shares, followed by KEL (12.42 million) and DFML (12.11 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included WTL, KEL, DFML, NCPL, and PPL which formed over 29 percent of total volumes.
A total of 326 companies traded shares in the stock exchange against 328 a session earlier, out of which shares of 70 closed up, shares of 239 closed down while shares of 17 companies remained unchanged. A total of 93 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against the same number of companies a session earlier, out of which share price of 13 companies closed up, 77 closed down and three remained unchanged.
The number of total trades decreased by 6,751 to 113,048 as compared to 119,799 trades recorded in the previous session, while the value traded increased by Rs0.71 billion to Rs8.99 billion as compared to Rs8.28 billion in the previous session.
In terms of rupee, SFL remained the top gainer and witnessed an increase of Rs78 (+7.29 percent) per share, closing at Rs1,148. The runner-up remained SAPT, the share price of which climbed up by Rs77.89 (+7.42 percent) to Rs1,128. MEHT remained the top loser in terms of rupee for the second straight session and witnessed a decrease of Rs54.5 (-7.37 percent) per share, closing at Rs685, followed by MARI, the share price of which fell by Rs20.92 (-1.28 percent) to close at Rs1,619.53 per share.
The sectors taking the index towards south were power generation & distribution (108 points), oil & gas exploration companies (77 points), technology & communication (60 points), cement (52 points), and fertiliz
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