KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Market (PSX) has reversed the trend after posting gains for 13 consecutive sessions and dipped over 60 points on Wednesday.
At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a cut of 66.19 points, or 0.18%, to settle at 36,679.03 points.
Earlier, trading began on a positive note, however, volatility emerged due to the absence of positive triggers and the index entered the red zone in the initial hours.
Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) again registered high volumes and closed the session higher than the previous day’s price. Stocks of oil and gas marketing, fertilizer, steel and pharmaceutical firms experienced profit booking.
The cement sector topped the volumes with trading in 54 million shares, followed by banks (34.5 million) and technology firms (34 million).
Stocks that contributed positively to the index included Pakistan Tobacco (+16 points), PPL (+15 points), Hubco (+13 points), Indus Motor (+11 points) and Pakistan Oilfields (+10 points).
Stocks that contributed negatively were Dawood Hercules (-21 points), SNGPL (-19 points), Millat Tractors (-16 points), Meezan Bank (-13 points) and Fauji Fertiliser Company (-10 points).
Major movers of the index were Hubco (+0.9%), Indus Motor (+2.9%), Maple Leaf Cement (+2.7%), Pakistan Oilfields (+0.9%), SNGPL (-5.1%), Engro (-0.4%) and Millat Tractors (-4.2%), which moved the index in both directions.
Profit-booking continued in the cement sector where Kohat Cement (-1.8%), Cherat Cement (-1.1%), Fauji Cement (-0.9%) and Pioneer Cement (-0.3%) lost ground.
Overall, trading volumes fell to 328.4 million shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 466.3 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs14.2 billion.
Shares of 386 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 147 stocks closed higher, 216 declined and 23 remained unchanged.
Maple Leaf Cement was the volume leader with 33.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.82 to close at Rs31.37. It was followed by Pak Elektron with 27.1 million shares, gaining Rs0.02 to close at Rs30.46 and Unity Foods with 21.8 million shares, losing Rs0.30 to close at Rs12.56.
According to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan, Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs751.9 million worth of shares during the trading session.
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