KARACHI: Despite recovering most of the early losses, the Pakistan Stock Exchange closed bearish on Tuesday as the benchmark 100-index shed huge 170.22 points to drop to 41983.16 points level.
The stocks recorded the highest trading level of 42291.15 points and lowest level of 41062.73 points, with the volume of over 217 million shares and value of Rs12.15 billion. As many as 354 companies were active; of which 98 advanced, 242 declined and 14 remained unchanged.
Azgard Nine was the volume leader with 15.21 million shares, shedding Rs0.86 to reach Rs15.18. It was followed by Aisha Steel Mill with 14.18 million shares, dropping Rs0.47 to end at Rs19.35 and Sui South Gas with 11.42 million shares, losing Rs1.46 to close at Rs33.96.
The top three gainers were Philip Morris Pak with price per share of 2677.50 (127.50), Unilever Foods with price per share of 6000 (110) and Sanofi-Aventis of 1809.95 (75.64).
The top three losers were Rafhan Maize with price per share of 6710 (-90), Service Ind. Ltd with price per share of 1173.61 (-61.76) and Murree Brewery share of 773.65 (-40.35).
Earlier, the PSX opened keeping bearish trend and lost 42,000 level as the benchmark 100-inded shed 689 points to drop to 41464.38 points level in early trading. The stocks remained bearish till midday as it dropped hug 564 points to reach 41589 points level.
On Monday, the stocks started new week on a bearish note and benchmark KSE 100-index fell to fresh 2017 lows, losing another 925 points to close at 42,153 points. Having receded over 20% from its high of 52,876 points on 24th May, one can safely say that 100-index has officially entered bear market territory.
Top 10 index point decliners were LUCK (down 5%), SNGP (5%), PSO (4.1%), DGKC (5%), DAWH (5%), FFC (2.9%), ENGRO (2.4%), HUBC (2.2%), SEARL (5%) & NML (5%); withholding 402 points.
On the sector front, cement shed 198 points on the back of a Rs25/bag price cut by the 2nd largest producer (LUCK), fertilizer 130 points, OMCs 130 points, banks 76 points & power 51 points; while E&P added 21 points. Participation thinned to a crawl as volumes declined 19% to 153m shares while traded value plunged 31% to Rs7.8b/$74m.
