KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday witness a bearish day as the benchmark 100-index plunged 337 points to close at 43,353.
The index showed mixed activity during the first half of the session, but saw a steep decline in the second half. It reached a day’s high of 43,782 points during the first half, whereas it hit a day’s low of 43,216 points near the close of the session.
In all, 207 million shares worth Rs7.8 billion changed hands during the session. Of the 361 traded scrips, 77 advanced, 270 declined and 14 remained unchanged.
Overall, communication scrips dominated trading with 27.3m shares traded, while the chemical and food and personal care products sectors followed with 22.3m and 20.3m shares changing hands.
Earlier, the stocks opened bearish and shed 119 points to reach 43571 level in early trading. The Pakistan Stock Exchange recouped till midday as the benchmark 100-index gained 63 points to reach 43754 level.
On Tuesday, the equities ended on a positive note, closing up 175 points to settle at 43,690 points. Sector-wise data indicated that commercial banks added 167 points to the index gain. This was followed by fertilizer sector that added 23 points. On the contrary, cements withheld 21 points from the index. Trading volumes and value during the trading session shrunk by 5 percent.
Stocks including Habib Bank Limited (+3.3 percent), United Bank Limited (+2.3 percent), ENGRO (+1.1 percent), PIBTL (+5.7 percent) & BAFL (+2.7 percent) added 186 points to the index whereas stocks including LUCK (-1.1 percent), DAWH (-1.3 percent), DGKC (-2.2 percent), SEARL (-2 percent) & HASCOL (-2.1 percent) withheld 62 points from the index.
