KARACHI: The Karachi Stock Exchange benchmark 100-index lost 151.59 points or 0.44 percent to reach 34386.86 points and volume of 162,991,660 shares on Wednesday.
KSE-100 Index continued its losing spree as negative change reached 125.33 points till the mid day on Wednesday touching 34413.12 as compared to the total points of 34499.06 in the early trading of the same day when it had lost 39.39 points or 0.11 percent.
Till the mid day, the benchmark KSE-100 Index depreciated 125.33 points or 0.36 percent while High and Low were 34621.58 and 34403.00 respectively with the textile sector lagging behind all other sectors on the Karachi Stock Exchange. Despite GSP Plus status awarded to the country last year by the European Union, Pakistan’s textile sector is lagging behind all other sectors on the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) with its almost 50 scrip recording zero turnover.
The High and Low were 34621.58 and 34353.78 respectively while the total volume traded was 255,712,480.
A KSE investor said “Some textile shares recorded growth for a few months, but after rupee appreciation textile sector share’s demand declined again. GSP Plus had only three percent impact on Pakistan’s exports while it had no impact in the stock exchange.”
A total of 110 stocks, including preferential stocks and futures, out of a total of 557 listed companies for the month of December 2014, recorded zero turnover despite an overall increase of three percent in the KSE 100-Index during the month. Textile is the largest export sector of the country but its weight in the stock exchange remains behind other sectors, like oil and gas, banking, chemicals and cement.