The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) snapped a two-day bullish trend on the back of a massive surge in international oil and commodity prices due to Russia-Ukraine war, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding 289.46 points (-0.65 percent) to close at 44,514.12 points.
The PSX opened on a negative note and remained in the red territory throughout the session. The international crude oil prices remained upward due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which dented the investors’ confidence in all major global bourses. However, the market witnessed some recovery during the last hours trading, which eroded some of the losses of the day.
The KSE-100 Index moved in a range of 669.7 points, showing an intraday low of 44,133.88 points and a high of 44,803.58 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 72.19 points (-0.23 percent) to close at 30,727.06 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index shed 109.15 points (-0.49 percent) to close at 22,264.2 points.
A total of 367 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of them shares of 115 closed up, shares of 225 closed down while shares of 27 companies remained unchanged. Out of 93 traded companies in the KSE-100 Index, 19 closed up and 71 closed down and three remained unchanged.
The overall market volumes decreased by 74.31 million to 235.03 million shares. Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index increased by 33.6 million to 114.62 million shares. The number of total trades decreased by 13,128 to 121,459, while the value traded decreased by Rs1.10 billion to Rs9.35 billion. Overall, market capitalisation decreased by Rs20.55 billion. Among scrips, TRG topped the volumes with 21.92 million shares, followed by TELE (15.12 million) and HUMNL (12.76 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included TRG, TELE, HUMNL, WTL, and AGL, which formed over 30 percent of total volumes.
In terms of rupee, NESTLE remained the top gainer and witnessed an increase of Rs245 (4.45 percent) per share, closing at Rs5,745, whereas the runner-up was RMPL, the share price of which climbed up for the seventh straight day by Rs175 (1.57 percent) to Rs11,300. SAPT remained the top loser in terms of rupee for the second day in a row and witnessed a decrease of Rs79.27 (7.5 percent) per share, closing at Rs978.93, followed by FASM, the share price of which declined by Rs32.52 (6.64 percent) to close at Rs457.38 per share.
The sectors taking the index towards south were cement with 84 points, fertilizer (59 points), commercial banks (58 points), and power generation & distribution and investment banks/ investment companies/ securities companies (30 points each). The most points taken off the index were by LUCK which stripped the index of 46 points followed by ENGRO (42 points), SYS (36 points), DAWH (30 points) and HUBC (23 points). The sectors taking the index towards north were oil & gas exploration companies (69 points), technology & communication (15 points), food & personal care products (7 points), cable & electrical goods (4 points) and transport (one point). The most points added to the index were by TRG which contributed 57 points followed by POL (31 points), OGDC (21 points), NBP (18 points) and PPL (17 points).