Stocks tumble 337 points as rollover week begins

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed all-round selling on first day of the trading week, with the benchmark index after registering early gains fell over 450 points intraday. Equity markets around the world also showed a negative trend, whereas crude oil prices inched up from the previous close; WTI crude oil price appreciating 0.54pc to $59.56 while Brent crude price rising 0.58pc to $62.50 (as at 3:53pm). "The market came down on the first day of the rollover week, contributed mostly by banking stocks, where disappointment reigned due to poor dividend distribution and anticipation of subdued results from UBL, scheduled to be announced on Wednesday," a report issued by Arif Habib Ltd read. "FATF plenary session started today with the anticipation of status quo, which caused concerns among investors holding on to positions in hope of positive conclusion." SUMMARY The benchmark KSE-100 Index witnessed a volatile start to the week, registering its intraday high at 46,402.73 (+175.08 points) and low at 45,763.05 (-464.60 points). It settled lower by 337.61 points at 45,890.04. Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index plunged 722.68 points to end at 75,900.32while the KSE All Share Index fell 203.61 points, closing at 31,647.57. The overall market volumes appreciated from 694.80 million shares on Friday to 721.21 million shares (+4pc). Average traded value also increased by 4pc, from $156.4 million to $162.1 million. Hum Network Ltd (HUMNL +6.83pc), Byco Petroleum Pakistan Ltd (BYCO +6.50pc) and TRG Pakistan Ltd (TRG +7.13pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 114.32 million, 109.08 million and 46.40 million shares, respectively. Sectors that drove the benchmark index south included banking (-211.40 points), oil & gas exploration (-80.22 points) and cement (-43.22 pts). Among the companies, Habib Bank Ltd (HBL -72.78 points), United Bank Ltd (UBL -58.64 points) and Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (OGDC -33.85 points) dented the index the most. Shedding 1.92pc from its cumulative market capitalization, the banking sector ended as the session's worst performer, with Standard Chartered Bank (Pakistan) Ltd (SCBPL -1.42pc), MCB Bank Ltd (MCB 0.91pc) and United Bank Ltd (UBL -4.10pc) closing in the negative.