KARACHI: The downward spell continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as the benchmark 100-index shed 355 points to drop to 44705 points level till midday on Friday.
Earlier, the last trading day of the week at PSX started on bearish note as the benchmark 100-index shed 120 points to reach 44940 points level in early trading.
On Thursday, the bearish sentiments continued to persist at the PSX as the benchmark 100-share index shed another 359 points. In the initial hours of the trading session, market showed a positive momentum, making an intra-day high of 669 points. However, profit booking in the latter hours took the index down to close at 45,060 points.
The 100-index was dragged down by the likes of DAWH (down 4.8%), ENGRO (down 1.8%), HUBC (1.5%), UBL (1.2%) & BAHL (1.8%), which held back 139 points; while OGDC (up 1.6%), POL (1.2%), MCB (0.6%), BAFL (1.9%) & PMPK (up 4.4%) contributed 66 points to the green.
On the sector front, fertilizer shed 97 points, banks 56 points, cements 55 points, power 24 points & OMCs 23 points, while E&Ps added 25 points.
Market participation slipped; volumes shed 11% to 148.1mn.sh, while traded value shed 3% to Rs8.6b/$82m. Total 360 active companies participated in the session of which 243 concluded in red, 99 in green while 18 remained unchanged.
