KARACHI: The stock market extended losses on Thursday and fell by 147 points amid continued selling pressure.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 34,887 points as against 35,035 points showing a decline of 147 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that despite positive movement in index early today, the market could not sustain the momentum and selling resumed, which took the index trading below 35,000 level.
Market traded in a narrow band between +265 points and -206 points and ended -116 points (unadjusted). OMCs, Cement, E&P, Steel improved over the day, whereas Banking sector took the toll from selling in HBL, UBL and MCB.
Cement sector performed on the back of rumours relating to sales quota dispute amongst Cement anufacturers that saw mid cap Cement stocks hitting upper circuit, however, selling ensued that brought price levels down. Similarly, Auto sector remained under selling pressure due to macro-economic concerns.
Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (-132 points), Fertilizer (-44 points), Autos (-28 points), Chemical (-21 points), Food (-20 points), Cement (+44 points), Power (+28 points), O&GMCs (+21 points), E&P (+21 points).
Volumes declined from 113 million shares to 78 million shares (-31 percent DoD). Average traded value also declined by 18 percent to reach US$ 26.4 million as against US$ 32.3 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include MLCF, SNGP, LOTCHEM, KEL and EFERT, which formed 29 percent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively include OGDC (+25 points), HUBC (+21 points), LUCK (+17 points), SNGP (+17 points) and PPL (+17 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include MCB (-46 points), HBL (-41 points), MARI (-27 points), NESTLE (-24 points) and UBL (-24 points).
