Daily Times

Fresh rounds of Covid lockdown imposed in Pakistan’s business centre, Karachi, sent shockwaves among investors on Friday as the benchmark KSE-100 index lost 257 points by the closing bell and clocked at 47,055 level.

On Friday the index opened on a positive note and showed strength as investors looked for direction, however, following the news of lockdown, the investors panicked and booked profit.

The Sindh government on Friday decided to impose a lockdown in the province from today (Saturday) till August 8 amid rising Covid-19 cases.

The decision was taken during a provincial coronavirus task force meeting presided over by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah.

According to a handout issued by the CM’s office, restrictions will remain in place till August 8. However, businesses associated with the export sector will be allowed to operate.

The Index traded in a range of 720.81 points or 1.52 percent of the previous close, showing an intraday high of 47,641.96 and a low of 46,921.15.

Volume at KSE-100 remained stagnant at156 million shares, while the all-share index recorded a volume of 399 million shares, up from 376 million shares from the previous session.

Worldcall Telecom Limited, Byco Petroleum and Tele led the volume table. The scrips exchanged 39.15 million, 38 million and 24 million worth of equity respectively.

Sectors which dented the index were Sector-wise, the index was let down by Technology and Communication with 54 points, Fertiliser with 45 points, Cement with 35 points, Commercial Banks with 27 points and Textile Composite with 17 points.

Among the scrips, the most points taken off the index was by TRG which stripped the index of 47 points followed by FFC with 44 points, HBL with 39 points, LUCK with 23 points and PPL with 17 points.

However, sectors that lifted the index were Investment Banks with nine points, Engineering with 8 points, Chemical with 3 points, Insurance with three points and Paper and Board with one point.

Among the scrips, the most points added to the index was by EFERT which contributed 12 points followed by MEBL with 11 points, PSX with 10 points, HMB with 9 points and SCBPL with 8 points.