Daily Times

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) stabilized after nose-diving 881.2 points on political uncertainty in the country, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index losing 124.26 points (-0.19 percent) to close at 64,514.89 points.

The market opened on a positive note but traded sideways and range-bound in the first half of Friday’s session. However, news of the Senate approving a resolution seeking delay in the general elections took a toll on investor sentiment, with the benchmark KSE-100 losing nearly 900 points during the second half of trading. However, most of the political parties as well as the caretaker government showed dismay over the resolution, assuring commitment to timely elections, which helped the index erode most of the losses before the session-end, but it closed in the red.

The development came after the Upper House of Parliament on Friday approved a resolution seeking a delay in the general elections by a majority vote. The resolution was tabled by Senator Dilawar Khan who cited cold weather and security issues as reasons behind seeking the delay. The development, which comes just a little over a month before the general elections scheduled for February 8, raised concerns of growing political instability in the country, which remains already engulfed in a myriad of challenges.

The benchmark index traded in a range of 1,319.52 points, showing an intraday high of 65,077.47 points and an intraday low of 63,757.95 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 57.74 points (+0.13 percent) to close at 43,366.59 points. However, the KMI All Share Islamic Index gained 113.15 points (+0.36 percent) to close at 31,819.48 points. Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index increased by 395.29 million shares to 718.03 million shares against 322.74 million traded in the previous session. Similarly, the overall market volumes increased by 410.57 million shares to 949.56 million shares against 548.99 million shares traded a session earlier.

Among scrips, KEL topped the volumes with 481.12 million shares (around 51 percent of total traded volumes), followed by WTL (33.38 million) and BOP (28.42 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included KEL, WTL, BOP, CNERGY, and PTC, which formed around 63 percent of total volumes.

A total of 361 companies traded shares in the stock exchange against 359 in the previous session, out of which shares of 160 closed up, shares of 187 companies closed down while shares of 14 companies remained unchanged. A total of 96 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against 97 in the previous session, out of which share prices of 41 companies closed up, 53 companies closed down and two remained unchanged. The number of total trades increased to 229,927 from 196,656 recorded in the previous session, while the value traded increased by Rs3.96 billion to Rs19.36 against Rs15.40 billion in the previous session.

In terms of rupee, NESTLE remained the top gainer with an increase of Rs200 (+2.44 percent) per share, closing at Rs8,400. The runner-up remained SFL, the share price of which climbed up by Rs110 (+6.51 percent) to Rs1,800. UPFL remained the top loser with a decrease of Rs150 (-0.67 percent) per share, closing at Rs22,100, followed by PSEL, the share price of which fell by Rs54.9 (-5.44 percent) to close at Rs955.1 per share. The major sectors taking the index towards south were fertilizer (74 points), miscellaneous (28 points), oil & gas exploration companies (25 points), technology & communication (21 points), cement (20 points), tobacco (17 points), refinery (12 points), commercial banks (10 points), engineering (8 points), and automobile assembler (7 points).

Ten major companies depriving the index of points remained ENGRO (19 points), PSEL (17 points), FFC and HUBC (16 points each), BAHL (12 points), PAKT (10 points), PPL (9 points), OGDC (7 points), and POL and UBL (6 points each).

The major sectors taking the index towards north remained leather and tanneries (29 points), pharmaceuticals (27 points), textile composite (14 points), oil and gas marketing companies and insurance (13 points each), investment bank/ investment companies/ securities companies (8 points), food and personal care (7 points), automobile parts and accessories (6 points), and power generation and distribution (4 points).

Ten major companies adding points to the index remained PSMC (19 points), KEL (17 points), SRVI (16 points), SEARL (12 points), HBL (10 points), SHEL, HCAR and MARI (9 points each), NESTLE (8 points), and AICL (7 points).