Daily Times

Bears returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday, over rising uncertainty owing to violent protests in Lahore and subsequent calls of countrywide strike.

On the first trading session of the week, the benchmark KSE-100 opened on a negative note and touched intra-day low at 44,611.83 level after losing 693.8 points. However, paring early losses, the index clocked at 44,913.57 by the closing bell after posting loss of 392 points

During the session the market reacted to rising uncertainty in the country, owing to violent protests by the banned outfit in Lahore and subsequent calls of a nationwide strike by former chairman of the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, Mufti Muneebur Rehman, which was backed by JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and JI Chief Sirajul Haq. The rising political noise dented the sentiments and kicked off a selling pressure.

Market Capital decreased by Rs.52.87 billion, while total value traded also decreased by 3.97 billion to Rs.12.71 billion.

The volume at KSE-100 was recorded at 131 million shares, whereas the all-share volume clocked in at about 363 million shares.

The volume chart was led by Worldcall Telecom Limited followed by Byco Petroleum Pakistan Limited and TRG Pakistan. The scrips exchanged 101.38 million, 24.25 million and 23.4 million shares, respectively.

According to the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited (NCCPL) foreign investors were net buyers of $0.24 million worth of equities. Among local investors, Brokers and Mutual Funds led the buying chart, which mopped up $1.9 million, $1.45 million worth of equities. However, the selling chart was led by Individuals, which offloaded $4.54 million worth of equities.

During the session, sectors which dented the index were Technology & Communication with 128 points, Commercial Banks with 54 points, Power Generation & Distribution with 36 points, Textile Composite with 33 points and Cement with 30 points. Among the scrips, the most points taken off the index was by TRG Pakistan which stripped the index of 126 points followed by Hub Power Company with 31 points, Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited with 22 points, Habib Bank Limited with 19 points and Pakistan State Oil with 16 points.

However, the sectors which lifted the index were Fertilizer with 8 points, Synthetic & Rayon with 2 points, Close – End Mutual Fund with 1 point, Real Estate Investment Trust with 1 point and Miscellaneous with 1 point. Among the scrips, the most points added to the index was by Mari Petroleum Company Limited which contributed 29 points followed by Engro Fertilizers Limited with 21 points, ENGRO with 17 points, Abbott Laboratories (Pakistan) Limited with 8 points and Honda Atlas Cars (Pakistan) Limited with 7 points.