PSX sheds 64 points amid profit-taking

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) remained range-bound amid profit-taking on Wednesday and the benchmark KSE-100 Index shed 64.36 points (-0.13 percent) to close at 48,126.9 points.

The KSE-100 Index traded in a range of 326 points, showing an intraday high of 48,286.4 and a low of 47,960.4. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 4.83 points (-0.01 percent) to close at 32,423.43 points, while All Share Islamic Index shed 0.61 points (-0.00 percent) to close at 23,520.43 points.

A total of 428 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of them shares of 216 closed up, shares of 194 closed down while shares of 18 companies remained unchanged.

The overall market volumes decreased by 345.61 million to 1046.42 million shares. The number of total trades decreased by 30,632 to 225,388, and value traded decreased by Rs2.71 billion to Rs27.78 billion. The market capitalisation decreased by Rs1.24 billion.

Among scripts, WTL led the table with 202.6 million shares, followed by BYCO (59.1 million) and PTC (36.2 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include WTL, BYCO, PTC, UNITY and ANL, which formed 35 percent of total volumes.

Sector-wise, the index was let down by oil & gas exploration companies with 50 points, cement with 29 points, commercial banks with 25 points, technology & communication with 23 points and fertilizer with 11 points. The most points taken off the index was by HBL which stripped the index of 35 points followed by OGDC with 21 points, PPL with 17 points, LUCK with 16 points and TRG with 14 points.

The sectors propping up the index were automobile assembler with 18 points, miscellaneous with 13 points, refinery with 13 points, oil & gas marketing companies with 10 points and leather & tanneries with 9 points. The most points added to the index was by KAPCO which contributed 15 points followed by NBP with 14 points, HCAR with 14 points, SHFA with 13 points and UNITY with 13 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market traded range-bound, oscillating between +95 points and -231 points and closed the session -64 points. They said that E&P, cement, banks and fertilizer sector stocks saw profit booking with the exception of KAPCO and PSO, on the back of an expectation of release of payment related to circular debt.