KARACHI: Opened on positive note, the Pakistan Stock Exchange Thursday closed negative after shedding huge 364.79 points to drop to 45634.02 points level over prevail political uncertainty in the country.
The stocks recorded the highest trading level of 46213.14 points and lowest level of 45572.11 points, with the volume of about 175.26 million shares and value of Rs9.34 billion. As many as 362 companies were active; of which 84 advanced, 255 declined and 23 remained unchanged.
Azgard Nine was the volume leader with 10.98 million shares, shedding Rs0.16 to reach Rs15.77. It was followed by Aisha Steel Mill with 9.58 million shares, losing Rs0.60 to end at Rs22.44 and BoP with 9.50 million shares, shedding Rs0.03 to close at Rs11.15.
The top three gainers were Murree Brewery with price per share of 910.05 (33.71), Wyeth Pak Ltd with price per share of 2300 (14) and Blessed Tex of 239.78 (11.41).
The top three losers were Hinopak Motor with price per share of 1315 (-35), Exide (PAK) with price per share of 720 (-23.99) and Siemens Pak share of 800.81 (-18.78).
Earlier, the stocks opened positive and gained 102 points to reach 46,101 points level in early trading. The PSX dropped the early gains till midday and dropped 104 points to reach 45895 points level.
On Wednesday, the stocks witnessed volatile session as the unfolding of political scenario kept investors sidelined as KSE 100-index closed marginally up. The market opened on a negative note amidst concerning political noises as the benchmark index made an intra-day low of 338 points. However, value buying helped the index to recover later on, closing 19 points higher at 45,999 points.
The steel sector flourished as ASL (up 4.73%), ISL (4.97%), and INIL (4.32%) closed near their upper circuits. KEL too edged up (2.03%) on FY16 earnings announcement, as their earnings improved by 16% YoY to Rs1.19/share. EPQL (up 4.25%) from the power sector also gained on account of above expectation earnings of Rs4.77/share for 1H2017 and DPS of Rs1.75/share.
Traded volumes were down 4% to 214m shares as compared to 206m shares of the previous day, whereas traded value was down 56% to Rs14b/$131m. Total 386 active companies participated in the session of which 243 concluded in green, 130 in red while 13 remained unchanged.
