KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) lost 40,000 mark on Tuesday as the benchmark 100-index shed 398.04 points to drop to 39634.13 level.
The stocks recorded the highest trading level of 40125.75 points and lowest level of 39564.27 points, with the volume of 113 million shares and value of Rs5.36 billion. As many as 352 companies were active; of which 98 advanced, 233 declined and 21 remained unchanged.
K-Electric was the volume leader with 27.88 million shares, shedding Rs0.13 to reach Rs6.13. It was followed by TRG Pak Ltd with 9.20 million shares, losing Rs1.27 to end at Rs36.12 and Dewan Motors with 6.52 million shares, shedding Rs0.55 to close at Rs25.48.
The top three gainers were Pak Tobacco with price per share of 1751.28 (83.38), Otsuka Pak with price per share of 290 (12.60) and Faisal Spinning of 248.22 (11.82).
The top three losers were Unilever Foods with price per share of 7200 (-300), Bata (Pak) with price per share of 2365.50 (-124.50) and Siemens Pak share of 937.31 (-49.33).
Earlier, the stocks opened bullish amid volatility as the benchmark 100-index added 33 points to reach 40065 level in early trading. The Pakistan Stock Exchange continued its downward journey and lost 270 points to reach 39762 points level till midday.
Yesterday, the KSE 100-index remained under pressure and ended up extending losses from the previous session, closing down 216 points at 40,032 points over concerns on the ongoing political environment in the country.
Major laggards remained heavyweight HUBC (down 2.99%), ENGRO (2.76%) and OGDC (1.25%), which detracted 112 points from the index. Major contributors to the index were UBL that added 29 points, PAKT 20 points, NESTLE 19 points, TRG 17 points and KEL that added 14 points to the index gain.
On the contrary, scrips that contributed negatively included HUBC that shed 43 points, ENGRO that eroded 43 points, OGDC that detracted 26 points, HBL that shed 23 points and DAWH that took away 22 points from the index.
E&P sector closed in the red where POL (down 1.05%), PPL (down 0.88%) and OGDC (1.25%) were the major laggards in the sector as oil prices slipped on prospects for increased output globally.
Volume was largely driven by KEL, TRG, WTL, ANL and DSL which contributed 60% of total market volume. Institutional investors were observed taking positions in KEL.