KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange Wednesday lost the psychological barrier of 40,000 points after losing huge 569.04 points to drop to 39771.42 points at closing.
The stocks recorded the highest trading level of 40356.16 points and lowest level of 39646.77 points, with the volume of about 693.04 million shares and value of 19.03 billion. As many as 399 companies were active; of which 71 advanced, 321 declined and 7 remained unchanged.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 63.45 million shares, losing Rs 0.27 to finish at Rs 2.35. It was followed by Pace (Pak) Ltd with 55.23 million shares, shedding Rs 0.11 to end at Rs 10.01 and BO Punjab with 50.17 million shares, dropping Rs 0.88 to close at Rs 11.26.
The top three gainers were Rafhan Maize with price per share of 7599.95 (99.95), Pak Tobacco with price per share of 1110 (35.16) and Khyber Tobacco per share of 721.53 (34.35).
The top three losers were Nestle Pakistan with price per share of 7425 (-75), Service Ind.Ltd with price per share of 1274.13 (-60.60) and Murree Brewery per share of 1079.30 (-56.80).
Earlier, the PSX opened bearish and lost 70.77 points to reach 40269.69 points level in early trading. The bearish note further intensified at the Pakistan Stock Exchange as benchmark 100-index shed massive 358.04 points to drop to 39982.42 points level till midday.
On Tuesday, stock market closed lower amid record trades in thirds tier scrips. The 100-share index declined by 74.26 points or (0.18%). Volatility prevailed as the index, after hitting an intraday high of 94 points and intraday low of 285 points, finally closed at 40,340.46 points. Despite volatility, there was a surge in a number of shares traded, as volumes for the day accumulated to 903m shares versus 877m shares of the previous day.
HCAR continued to garner investors’ interest, as it gained to close on its upper circuit on the back of 50% MoM increase in sales number for the month of August. OGDC (down 0.07%) and PPL (0.35%) in the E&P sector lost value to close in the red zone, as crude oil prices declined.
Volumes increased by 3% to 903mn shares while value rose by 7.8% which is the highest value recorded since June 2015 of Rs20.7b/$198m. DSFL led the volume with 70m shares traded while hitting its lower and upper limits, both during the day. Engineering sector was in limelight as ISL and ASTL closed at their upper limit of 5%.
