Daily Times

Bulls and bears fight off at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), as investors continue to struggle owing to weak cues and Covid-19 fears. On Thursday, after swinging both ways the benchmark KSE-100 index lost 159.75 points by the session closing to clock at 44,428.10 level.

On Thursday, the market witnessed a directionless trade as pessimism over the economic situation and renewed lockdown restrictions continued selling pressure at the bourse.

Although the market was given a brief cushion over the news that Pakistan exports increased to a ten-year high at $2.345 billion during March, according to provisional figures shared by the Ministry of Commerce. This is an increase of 13.4% over the previous month. However, this had a short term impact as dwindling investors’ confidence resulted in immediate profit taking.

Investors largely stayed muted during the session and continue to book profit on intra-day gains.

During the session, the benchmark KSE-100 Index registered its intraday low at 44,334.22 level after it lost 253.63 points, and intra-day high at 44,877.46 after it gained 289.61 points.

The volume at KSE-100 receded from 253.23 million shares recorded in the previous session to 186.64 million shares, while the all-share volume also decreased from 443.9 million shares recorded in the previous session to 313.51million shares.

Market Capital decreased by Rs.46.72 billion, while total value traded decreased by 8.49 billion to Rs.17.43 billion.

The volume chart was led by Byco Petroleum Pakistan Limited followed by TRG Pakistan Limited and Ghani Global Holdings Limited. The scrips exchanged 30.34 million, 25.44 million and 17.93 million shares, respectively.

According to the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited (NCCPL) foreign investors were net buyers of $1.27 million worth of equities. Among local investors, Insurance Companies and Brokers led the buying chart and mopped up $3.6 million and $1.2 million worth of equities.

However, Individuals and Mutual Funds led the selling chart and offloaded $3.6 million and $1.7 million worth of equities.

During the session, sectors which dented the index were Technology & Communication with 121 points, Cement with 64 points, Commercial Banks with 42 points, Refinery with 40 points and Oil & Gas Marketing Companies with 32 points. Among the scrips, the most points taken off the index was by TRG which stripped the index of 108 points followed by Lucky Cement Limited with 20 points, Pakistan State Oil with 19 points, Attock Refinery Limited with 18 points and Meezan Bank Limited with 18 points.

However, sectors which continued to lift the index were Fertilizer with 151 points, Pharmaceuticals with 28 points, Investment Banks with 28 points, Leather & Tanneries with 18 points and Power Generation & Distribution with 8 points. Among the scrips, the most points added to the index was by ENGRO which contributed 152 points followed by Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited (the Company) with 33 points, The Searle Company Limited with 30 points, Service Industries Limited with 18 points and Hub Power Company Limited with 16 points.