Karachi
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued with bearish, range-bound and low volume trend for the second straight day on Friday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding 100.92 points (-0.21 per-cent) to close at 47,169.84 points.
The market opened on a positive note; however, profit-taking prevailed that brought the index down. The KSE-100 Index moved in a range of 197 points, showing an intraday high of 47,320.3 points and an intraday low of 47,123.3 points.
Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 35.78 points (-0.11 percent) to close at 32,269.46 points, while All Share Islamic Index shed 69.56 points (-0.3 percent) to close at 23,084.41 points.
A total of 365 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of them shares of 147 closed up, shares of 194 closed down while shares of 24 com-panies remained unchanged.
Out of the 92 compa-nies which traded shares in the KSE-100 Index, shares of 31 closed up, 56 closed down, while shares of five companies remained unchanged.
The overall market volumes decreased by 16.81 million to 213.36 million shares. Total volume traded for the KSE-100 Index was 56.39 million shares. The number of total trades decreased by 16,769 to 88,811; and the value traded decreased by Rs2.27 billion to Rs9.28 billion. Likewise, the mar-ket capitalisation decreased by Rs15.80 billion.
Among scrips, TPLP realised total volumes of 24.52 million shares, followed by GGL (23.91 million) and WTL (11.43 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include TPLP, GGL, WTL, TPL and TRG, which formed 36.55 percent of total volumes.
Sector wise, the index was let down by cement with 46 points, oil & gas exploration companies with 23 points, technology & communication with 23 points, oil & gas marketing companies with 18 points and fertilizer with 10 points.
The most points taken off the index were by SYS which stripped the index of 32 points followed by MLCF with 19 points, LUCK with 18 points, OGDC with 12 points and MCB with 10 points.
The sectors propping up the index were miscellane-ous with 33 points, glass & ceramics with 8 points, tobacco with 6 points, food & personal care prod-ucts with 5 points and power generation & distribu-tion with 3 points.
The most points added to the index were by PSEL which contributed 33 points followed by TRG with 9 points, GHGL with 8 points, FCEPL with 8 points and MTL with 7 points.
According to market experts, the PSX witnessed a range-bound session as investors’ participation re-mained subdued due to the absence of positive eco-nomic triggers while some profit-taking activity was witnessed throughout the day.
On the earnings front, MLCF posted a net profit of Rs3.82 billion in the fiscal year 2020-21, against losses of Rs3.56 billion in the preceding fiscal year. — TLTP
