Zubair Yaqoob
Karachi
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) succumbed to selling pressure on Monday. The benchmark KSE-100 index edged down over 60 points after recouping most of its midday losses.
After a brief open in the positive, the bourse turned bearish as investors resorted to divesting their holdings. The KSE-100 index staged a modest recovery after midday with market participants acting to erase the losses. Nevertheless, the index succumbed to the selling pressure and failed to close the day on a positive note.
At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a decrease of 64.60 points, or 0.16%, to settle at 40,504.75 points.
Investors seemed perturbed by the law and order situation in and around the capital city, Islamabad, as well as political wrangling between the opposition and the government.
Sui Northern Gas Pipelines recovered from the disdain shown by investors on Friday and after trading below last trading day’s closing price posted intra-session gains to cross the previous level.
Sectors contributing to the performance included exploration and production (-48 points), textile (-25 points), cement (-16 points), power (+19 points) and banks (+14 points).
Individually, stocks that contributed positively to the index included UBL (+20 points), K-Electric (+10 points), Fauji Fertiliser (+9 points), Fauji Cement (+9 points) and Hubco (+9 points).
