ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) faced heavy selling pressure on Wednesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index dropping by 1,904 points.
According to the PSX website the stock market closed at 114,148.45 points showing a negative change of 1.64 %.
The index reached a high of 117,750.22 points during the day but ultimately failed to maintain its upward momentum.
Buying interest was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, chemicals, commercial banks, fertilizer, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation, and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including NRL, PRL, HUBCO, PSO, SHEL, SSGC, MARI, OGDC, PPL, ENGRO, MCB, MEBL, and NBP, traded in the green.
“We think overall market sentiment remains positive, as most top-down risks have eased off,” said Intermarket Securities, in a note on Wednesday.
Prime Minister visits PSX
During his visit to the PSX, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif acknowledged that the current tax slabs “are prohibitive”, hampering business operations and investments.
“However, we are under an International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, and we need to honour our commitments with the global lender.”
“We will say them [IMF] goodbye forever, but when the time comes. At this point, we need to build this relationship and achieve those targets,” the prime minister said.
Overall, 116,052.68 shares entertained
On Wednesday a total of 116,052.68 shares were entertained as compared to 792,770,655 shares the previous trading day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs 32.466 billion against Rs.39.694 billion on the last trading day.
As many as 464 companies transacted their shares in the stock market, 118 of them registered gains and 293 sustained losses, whereas the share price of 53 companies remained unchanged.
The three top trading companies were WorldCall Telecom with 520,199,852 shares at Rs 1.79 per share followed by Cnergyico PK with 41,301,063 shares at Rs.7.00 per share whereas Fauji Foods Limited settled with 34,830,810 shares at Rs.17.64 per share.
JDW Sugar Mills Limited witnessed a maximum increase of Rs.82.27 per share price, closing at Rs 904.95, whereas Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited was the runner-up with Rs 67.77 rise in its per share price to Rs.8,954.94.
Hallmark Company Limited witnessed a maximum decline of Rs 68.23 per share closing at Rs 789.61 followed by Nestle Pakistan Limited with a drop of Rs 61.85 to close at Rs.7,282.23.
On Tuesday, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) faced selling pressure, closing in the red as investors opted to offload their holdings at available margins. The benchmark KSE-100 index dropped by 202.44 points, or 0.17%, settling at 116,052.68 points.
On the international front, Asian stocks edged lower on Wednesday. A strong U.S. dollar kept the yen near six-month lows as traders anticipated that the Federal Reserve would likely maintain a cautious approach to rate cuts, following data that highlighted the stability of the U.S. economy and labour market.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.2%, while Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.8%. On Wall Street, all three major indexes closed lower amid renewed concerns about a potential rebound in inflation triggered by the economic data.
