KARACHI: Bearish trend prevailed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday, as the indices depreciated continuously while volumes contracted further, pushing the KSE-100 below the 43,000-mark.
Foreign investors, on the other hand, continued with their buying trend in the previous session. A net inflow of $1.2 million was recorded on Tuesday with major buying witnessed in banking ($0.75 million) and oil and gas exploration ($0.45 million) sectors.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index, which started the day at 43,212.59, lost 329.14 points to mark its intraday low at 42,877.90. It settled lower by 214.01 points at 42,993.03. The KMI-30 Index plunged 509.80 points to close at 70,144.36, while KSE All Share Index declined by 80.65 points, ending at 29,892.79. Out of the total traded shares, 109 advanced and 212 declined.
The overall market volumes contracted from 249.67 million in the previous session to 171.13 million. The Bank of Punjab (BOP +1.12pc) topped the volume chart, followed by Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited (MLCF +1.75pc) and TRG Pakistan Limited (TRG -0.49pc). The scripts had exchanged 19.65 million, 18.26 million and 9.26 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that painted the index red included oil & gas exploration (-51.85 points), power generation & distribution (-35.18 points) and banking (-29.74 points). Among the companies, Hub Power Company Limited (HUBC -30.53 points), Pak Petroleum Limited (PPL -27.14 points) and Pakistan Services Limited (PSEL -20.40 points) dented the index the most.
In a notification to the exchange, Pioneer Cement Limited (PIOC +2.37pc) announced that the company has successfully lighted up the kiln of its new line having production capacity of 10,000 tonnes per day. According to the company, the production and dispatch of cement shall start in due course.
Although the market trend remained negative on Wednesday, the tobacco sector managed to gain +1.63pc in its cumulative market capitalization. Philip Morris Pakistan Limited (PMPK +3.64pc) and Pakistan Tobacco Company Limited (PAKT +1.13pc) ended with decent gains.
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