Daily Times

Bulls and bears wrestled at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday, as speculation over Covid-19 weighed on market sentiments.

On Monday, the benchmark KSE-100 opened on a positive note and touched intra-day high at 45,267.43 level after gaining 80.95 points. However, paring earlier gains, the index reversed to touch intra-day low at 44,757.31 level after losing 428.14 level.

By the closing bell the benchmark index lost 208.43 points to clock at 44,978.05 level. During the session the market cheered strong inflows from overseas Pakistani in the form of remittances which exceeded $2 billion for the10th consecutive month in March and clocked at $2.7 billion – up 43 per cent from a year earlier, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

However, the early push was short lived, as investors resorted to profit-booking as bears took control owing to rising Covid fears.

Senior Vice President, BMA Capital Management Limited, Irfan Saeed said that Monday’s retreat was expected, following the gains in the previous sessions, which lifted index above 45,200 level. Mr Saeed, however, said that apart from technical grounds, the market also speculated over the possibility of imposition of new round of lockdown measures, by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), owing to continuous rise in Covid-19 positivity rate, which also weighed down the market sentiments.

On Monday, the NCOC decided to monitor the already issued orders for two to three days more, after which further decision will be taken in the light of the results. On the other hand, Pakistan has reported 58 deaths in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 725,602. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 15,501. According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), 4,584 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.

Market Capital decreased by Rs.57.58 billion, while total value traded also decreased by 5.37 billion to Rs.19.97 billion.

The volume chart was led by Worldcall Telecom Limited followed by TRG Pakistan and Ghani Global Limited. The scrips exchanged 73.75 million, 42.17 million and 38.84 million shares, respectively.

According to the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited (NCCPL) foreign investors were net sellers of $0.12 million worth of equities. Local investors, Companies, Banks and Insurance Companies led the selling chart, which offloaded up $3.03 million, $2 million and $1.17 million worth of equities.

During the session, sectors which dented the index were Oil & Gas Marketing Companies with 36 points, Commercial Banks with 32 points, Pharmaceuticals with 26 points, Chemical with 23 points and Cement with 23 points. Among the scrips, the most points taken off the index was by ENGRO which stripped the index of 44 points followed by Pakistan State Oil with 25 points, Oil & Gas Development Company Limited with 22 points, Searle Company Limited with 21 points and United Bank Limited with 16 points.

However, the sectors which lifted the index were Technology & Communication with 89 points, Real Estate Investment Trust with 3 points, Paper & Board with 2 points and Leasing Companies with 1 point. Among the scrips, the most points added to the index was by TRG Pakistan which contributed 98 points followed by Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited with 24 points, Muslim Commercial Bank with 19 points, Engro Fertilizers Limited with 12 points and Lucky Cement Limited with 6 points.