KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) broke its winning streak on Friday as the KSE-100 index tumbled 2,475.46 points, or 1.36 per cent, to close at 178,922.76, against the previous close of 181,398.22, as profit-taking gripped the market after a strong rally.
The market sentiment remained low amid postponement of the permanent peace agreement. The index touched an intraday high of 182,185.87 and a low of 177,836.16. The KSE-30 index fell 789.54 points to close at 53,308.95.
Ali Najib, deputy head of trading at Arif Habib Ltd, said the PSX witnessed a profit-taking session. Investor sentiment remained cautious as market participants locked in gains, particularly in blue-chip cyclical stocks, ahead of the weekend.
Sentiment was further dampened by reports of a delay in negotiations over a permanent US-Iran peace agreement and Tehran’s nuclear program after renewed hostilities in southern Lebanon prompted Iran to postpone its participation in the Switzerland talks.
“The market may remain volatile in the near term as investors closely monitor geopolitical developments in the Middle East. Nevertheless, improving macroeconomic fundamentals, a stable interest rate outlook, and expectations of lower energy prices continue to provide support to the broader market trend,” Najib said.
Ready market turnover declined 15.43 per cent to 1,050.05 million shares from 1,241.7 million shares in the previous session. Traded value fell 6.68 per cent to Rs54.14 billion from Rs58.01 billion, while market capitalisation slipped 1.24 per cent to Rs19.99 trillion from Rs20.25 trillion.
Market breadth was sharply negative, with 141 stocks advancing against 329 declining and 27 unchanged.Among the top gainers, PIA Holding Company Limited rose Rs100 to close at Rs18,000, while Pakistan Engineering Company Limited added Rs77.44 to close at Rs851.83. On the downside, Service Industries Limited shed Rs99.84 to close at Rs2,204.06, and Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited declined Rs49.12 to close at Rs9,556.33.
According to Topline Sales Desk, the KSE 100 Index traded in narrow range during the early hours of trade, however selling pressure was observed during second half of trading session on news that the US and Iran have postponed planned negotiations in Switzerland on a permanent peace agreement and Iran’s nuclear program after fighting escalated in southern Lebanon between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.
Top negative contribution to the index came from UBL, FFC, ENGROH, PPL, OGDC, LUCK, HBL and SYS, as they weighed on the index by 1,273 points.
Traded value wise HUBC (Rs3.2 billion), OGDC (Rs3.1 billion), PPL (Rs2.9 billion), SSGC (Rs2.8 billion) and SNGP (Rs2.6 billion) dominated the trading session.
Sui South Gas led ready market turnover with 87.35 million shares, gaining 69 paisas to close at Rs31.32, followed by Kohinoor Spinning with 80.62 million shares, declining 2 paisas to close at Rs6.96. Other most-traded stocks were TPL Corp Ltd, Bank of Punjab, TPL Properties, K-Electric Ltd, WorldCall Telecom, Lotte Chemical, Saif Power Ltd and Maple Leaf.In the futures market, 310 contracts were traded, with 32 increasing in value and 278 declining.
