KARACHI, (TLTP): Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a bloodbath on Tuesday amid rupee’s consistent depreciation, rumour of an emergency monetary policy adjustment and political chaos, with the KSE-100 Index bleeding 708.20 points (-1.49 percent) to settle below the 47,000 points psychological level at 46,770.41 points.
The market opened on a sharp negative note and remained in the red territory throughout the session. The rumour of an emergency monetary policy adjustment meeting to further enhance the interest rate, which already stands at historic 22 percent, weighed on the stocks. The investors are closely monitoring the upcoming Consumer Price Index data due on Thursday, which will be pivotal for the next Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on September 14.
Ongoing protests against electricity charges in the country also kept the bearish mood of the market intact, as any attempt by the caretaker government to lower the charges may invite the suspension of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme. Moreover, the rupee’s continuous depreciation against the US dollar kept the investors at bay.
Last but not least, political uncertainty in the country is haunting the stock market. The market sentiment has been dampened by the rising political uncertainty. The Election Commission has not issued the election schedule. The Islamabad High Court suspended Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan’s sentence in the Toshakhana case. However, the former prime minister was arrested in another case.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 880.38 points showing an intraday high of 47,478.61 points (the previous day close) and an intraday low of 46,598.23 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 393.24 points (-1.26 percent) to close at 31,115.31 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index shed 349.47 points (-1.56 percent) to close at 22,471.41 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index increased by 13.24 million shares to 111.05 million shares against 97.81 million shares traded a session earlier. The overall market volumes increased by 33.71 million shares to 217.85 million shares against 184.14 million shares traded a session earlier.
Among scrips, WTL topped the volumes with 27.41 million shares, followed by KEL (14.73 million) and DFML (9.55 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included WTL, KEL, DFML, NCPL, and PPL which formed over 31 percent of total volumes.
A total of 328 companies traded shares in the stock exchange against 313 a session earlier, out of which shares of 62 closed up, shares of 244 closed down while shares of 22 companies remained unchanged. A total of 93 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against 94 companies a session earlier, out of which share price of 11 companies closed up, 76 closed down and six remained unchanged.
The number of total trades increased by 25,787 to 119,799 as compared to 94,012 trades recorded in the previous session, while the value traded increased by Rs1.81 billion to Rs8.28 billion as compared to Rs6.47 billion in the previous session.
In terms of rupee, SAPL remained the top gainer and witnessed an increase of Rs48 (+6.75 percent) per share, closing at Rs759. The runner-up remained AABS, the share price of which climbed up by Rs17.99 (+3.6 percent) to Rs517.99. RMPL remained the top loser in terms of rupee for the second straight session and witnessed a decrease of Rs45 (-0.54 percent) per share, closing at Rs8,255, followed by SYS, the share price of which fell by Rs34.44 (-7.4 percent) to close at Rs430.89 per share.
The sectors taking the index towards south were technology & communication (154 points), commercial banks (107 points), oil & gas exploration companies (100 points), cement (63 points), and fertilizer (62 points). The major companies depriving the index of points remained SYS (171 points), PPL and HUBC (42 points each), HBL and OGDC (25 points each), APL (19 points).
The major sector taking the index towards north remained pharmaceuticals (4 points). The major companies adding points to the index remained TRG (29 points), UBL (7 points), KAPCO (5 points), AGP (4 points), and ABOT (3 points).
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