Staff Reporter
Karachi
Uncertainty continued to rattle Pakistan Stock Exchange on Friday as the benchmark KSE-100 index fell 101 points in a range bound session.
Trading has remained choppy at the stock market for the past few days because of economic and political tensions. A lack of positive triggers coupled with renewed fears of economic slowdown in the face of targeted lockdown in parts of Karachi prevented investors from making fresh buying.
Meanwhile, oil stocks outperformed the market in the wake of a surge in global crude prices following the commitment to supply cuts by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies in a meeting held on Thursday.
Earlier, the KSE-100 index opened up but a sombre mood of investors prevented it from notching up hefty gains. In the absence of positive triggers, the market looked like a see-saw as it constantly moved between red and green zones till the close of trading.
At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a decrease of 100.90 points, or 0.30%, to settle at 33,438.95 points.
The banking sector led the volumes with trading in 12.7 million shares, followed by technology firms (10.4 million) and power companies (10.2 million).
Stocks that contributed positively to the index included MCB (+39 points), Bank Alfalah (+13 points), Pakistan Petroleum Limited (+12 points), Pakistan Oilfields (+11 points) and OGDC (+10 points).
Meanwhile, stocks that contributed negatively included Dawood Hercules (-25 points), UBL (-17 points), Lucky Cement (-16 points), Engro Fertilisers (-15 points) and Meezan Bank (-13 points).
JS Global analyst Danish Ladhani said the benchmark KSE-100 index closed negative after hitting high and low of +160 points and -170 points. It ended at 33,439, down 0.3%.
“The market remained dull as a two-week smart lockdown was implemented in various localities of Karachi,” he stated. “Moreover, the market was jittery on the back of political uncertainty as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) began efforts to win back BNP-M’s support.”
