KARACHI: The KSE-100 Index closed lower on Friday, shedding 696.57 points, or 0.41 per cent, to settle at 170,478.94 against the previous close of 171,175.51. The market sentiment was low as there was no concrete progress on US-Iran peace talks.
The index touched an intraday high of 172,102.91 and a low of 170,254.65. The KSE-30 Index also declined, losing 344.88 points to close at 50,877.61.
Nabeel Haroon, an analyst at Topline Securities, said a range-bound trading session was observed at the exchange, with the index fluctuating within a narrow band before closing at 170,479 points, down 0.41 per cent. The cautious market activity was largely driven by limited progress in US-Iran peace negotiations this week. Meanwhile, renewed tensions in the region persisted as clashes continued despite the fragile ceasefire established in April, while ongoing hostilities in Lebanon further weighed on investor sentiment.
Top positive contributions to the index came from PSX, JVDC, KTML, MTL and NPL, as they cumulatively contributed 138 points to the index. On the other hand, UBL, OGDC, PPL, MCB and MEBL lost value to weigh down on the index by 476 points.
Traded value-wise MLCF (Rs1.33 billion), TRG (Rs1.02 billion), PTC (Rs992 million), DGKC (Rs705 million), OGDC (Rs655 million) and PPL (Rs635 million) dominated the trading activity.Ready market turnover rose to 727.17 million shares, up 4.3 per cent from 697.17 million in the prior session. Traded value edged up 2.36 per cent to Rs26.75 billion from Rs26.14 billion, while market capitalisation slipped 0.29 per cent to Rs18.93 trillion from Rs18.98 trillion.
Market breadth was negative, with 248 stocks advancing, 205 declining, and 38 closing unchanged out of 491 traded.Among gainers, Khairpur Sugar Mills climbed Rs47.21 to close at Rs2,420.84, while Hoechst Pakistan added Rs43.5 to end at Rs4,052.5. On the losing side, Rafhan Maize Products shed Rs71.41 to close at Rs9,624.46, and Khyber Textile Mills fell Rs29.17 to Rs1,527.83.
TPL Properties led ready market turnover with 42.06 million shares, rising 57 paisas to close at Rs9.33, followed by TPL Corp with 42.00 million shares, gaining 49 paisas to end at Rs12.2. The remaining top turnover stocks were Pace (Pakistan), Beco Steel, Hascol Petroleum, Pervez Ahmed, WorldCall Telecom, Waves Home Appliances, Bank of Punjab and Unity Foods.In the futures market, 310 contracts were traded, with 118 recording increases and 188 declines, while 4 were unchanged.
