KARACHI: The stock market lost 391 points to start the week on Monday with selling pressure witnessed during the trading.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 36,902 points as against 37,292 points showing a decline of 391 points. Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that profit booking was apparently the only idea on investors’ mind.
SNGP, which hit upper circuit the other day with high volume was scheduled to announce financial results today.
Although SNGP beat street consensus and did hit upper circuit today, it couldn’t sustain selling pressure and price went below last trading day’s closing price.
LOTCHEM retained investors’ interest and despite trading below upper circuit several times, it managed to close at upper circuit.
Overall, the index lost 453 points during the session besides marking +187 points in the beginning.
Cement sector led the volumes with 24 million shares, followed by Chemical (21.8 million) and Banks (12.5 million). Among scrips, LOTCHEM topped the chart with 19.7 million shares, followed by PIOC (10.6 million).
Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (-118 points), E&P (-40 points), Fertilizer (-37 points), Cement (-29 points), Power (-27 points).
Volumes declined considerably from 177.4 million shares to 125.9 million shares (-29 percent DoD). Average traded value also declined by 33 percent to reach US$ 31.3 million as against US$ 46.9 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include LOTCHEM, PIOC, KEL, SNGP and PAEL, which formed 45 percent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively include LOTCHEM (+8 points), INDU (+2 points), DCR (+2 points), ICI (+2 points), and PKGS (+2 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include HBL (-56 points), PPL (-22 points), MCB (-20 points), LUCK (-18 points) and FFC (-17 points).
