KARACHI: The stocks again witnessed bearish note on Friday as the benchmark 100-index lost 254.52 points to drop to 41291.43 points level at closing.
The stocks recorded the highest trading level of 41600.97 points and lowest level of 41257.67 points, with the volume of over 529 million shares and value of 16.38 billion. As many as 395 companies were active; of which 156 advanced, 225 declined and 15 remained unchanged.
TRG Pak Ltd was the volume leader with 58.30 million shares, shedding Rs 0.16 to finish at Rs 45.35. It was followed by BoP with 54.45 million shares, losing Rs 0.21 to end at Rs 18.09 and Dost Steel (R) with 37.90 million shares, dropping Rs 0.15 to close at Rs 3.73.
The top three gainers were Nestle Pakistan with price per share of 8300 (300), Rafhan Maize with price per share of 1363.79 (64.94) and Sanofi-Aventis share of 1302 (62).
The top three losers were Rafhan Maize with price per share of 7700 (-150), Philip Morris Pak with price per share of 1814.20 (-95.47) and Island Textile per share of 1234.05 (-64).
Earlier, the Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed fluctuation and added only 23 points to reach 41568.77 points level in early trading. The stocks remained in pressure till midday and lost 59 points to reach 41486.72 points level.
On Thursday, the stocks staged strong recovery as the 100-share index touched new highs of 41545.35 points after rallying by 622 points, (up 1.5%). The rally in the local bourse was led by the oil sector that rallied as global crude oil prices held near a 15-month high after government data showed that US stockpiles declined unexpectedly, trimming an overhang of inventories. OGDC (up 2.26%) and PPL (4.56%) were the biggest index movers of the sector yesterday. Similarly, rally in the banking sector was witnessed on the back of better-than-expected 9-month results. Both BAHL and HBL announced their 9M2016 results, with EPS clocking in at Rs4.88/share and Rs17.47/share respectively. Overall, volumes increased by 10.8 percent to 561 million shares, while value rose by 50 percent to Rs18.6 billion/$178 million. BOP led the volumes with 68m shares traded; stock gained 3.9%.