Daily Times

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued snapped its 2-day momentum as profit taking was witnessed at 46,000 level, after benchmark kse-100 index closedat 45,989 index level after losing 102.61 points.

Theindex continued to hover around 46,000 level to which investors booked profit throughout the day as market became over bought due to heavy volumes and buying activity in the previous sessions.

Thursday marked a breather, following series of positive new that contributed to the over valuation of the stocks, that includes better than expected Large Scale Manufacturing (LSM) figures, which grew by 14.5 percent in November 2020 as compared to the same month in 2019. Moreover, upbeat sentiments over State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Reza Baqir’s comments earlier this week, whoclaimed that Pakistan is in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to put the fiscal support programme back on track, adding that he was optimistic about the economic outlook despite the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite brief correction, positive momentum was witnessed in fertilizers scrips, on the back of DAP subsidy announced by the government and taken into effect. In line with the recent trend, the benchmark KSE-100 Index began the session on positive note, touching its intraday high at 46,272.58 after accumulating 180.62 points. However, reversing its pace, it succumbed to profit-booking and touched intraday low at 45,852.83 after losing 239.13 points.

The volume at Kse-100 reduced from 466.26 million shares recorded in the previous session, to 286.4 million shares, while the all-share volumealso depletedfrom 845.28 million shares in the previous session to 620.75 million shares. The volume chart was led by Hum Network Limited, K-electric Limited and Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim Limited. The scrips exchanged 57.53 million, 45.69 million and 25.89 million shares.

According to the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited foreign investors’ offloaded $0.94 million worth ofshares. Among local investors the selling chart was led by Mutual Funds and Banks , which also off-loaded $3.43 million and $2.61 million of equities. However, Individuals mopped up $4.53 million worth of equities.

Sectors that weighed down the index were Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 69 points, Cement with 33 points, Fertilizer with 17 points, Pharmaceuticals with 14 points and Automobile Assembler with 12 points. Among the screips, the most points taken off the index were by Oil &Gas Development Company Limited which stripped the index of 33 points followed by ENGRO with 18 points, Hub Power Company Limited with 17 points, Pakistan Petroleum Limited with 16 points, and Pakistan Oilfields Limited with 13 points.

However, Sector’s that continued to weigh upthe index were Technology & Communication with 20 points, Chemical with 19 points, Glass & Ceramics with 13 points, Tobacco with 12 points, and Oil & Gas Marketing Companies with 8 points. Among the scrips, the most points added to the index were by KotAddu Power Company limited which contributed 23 points followed by Systems Limited with 20 points, Colgate Pakistan Limited with 14 points, Ghani Glass Limitedwith 13 points, and Pakistan Tobacco Company Limited with 12 points.