Stocks decline for third session in a row
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KARACHI:
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday closed down by over 450 points – its third consecutive session in the red – as institutional profit-taking in blue-chip stocks and global market jitters weighed on market sentiment.
Investor confidence remained shaky amid fears of US tariff retaliation under President Donald Trump's policies, coupled with declining foreign exchange reserves due to debt repayments by Pakistan and uncertainty about the upcoming International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme review.
While the KSE-100 index initially surged 918 points, late-session selling erased gains, reflecting cautious investor behaviour ahead of the weekend.
Stocks closed lower amid institutional profit-taking in blue-chip shares on jittery global equities over Trump's reciprocal tariffs on multiple trading partners, said Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corp.
Rupee instability, falling foreign currency reserves due to debt repayments, foreign fund outflows and uncertainty about the outcome of IMF review next month played the role of catalysts in bearish close at the PSX, he said.
At the end of trading, the benchmark KSE-100 index posted a decline of 478.78 points, or 0.43%, and settled at 112,085.30.
It was the third consecutive lower close for the KSE-100 index that trimmed gains to 1.6% week-on-week (WoW), wrote Arif Habib Limited (AHL) in its report.
Some 39 shares rose while 59 fell with Lucky Cement (+10%), Fauji Fertiliser Company (+0.67%) and Lucky Core Industries (+6.02%) contributing the most to index gains. Pakistan Petroleum (-3.01%), Pakistan State Oil (PSO, -4.22%) and Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC, -2.21%) were the biggest index drags, it said.
Despite the fall, the KSE-100 maintained the 112k level while heading into the weekend, "which bodes well for the upside next week". Friday's gains failed to cross 113.5k with the index touching the intra-day high at 113,482, which keeps downside moves open.
"112k-113.5k are the key floor and ceiling levels to watch for next week; bias is for the index to surpass the ceiling and set up tradable moves," AHL added.
Topline Securities, in its market review, wrote that the KSE-100 index opened on a positive note and rose to the intra-day high of 918 points. However, jittery investors came in to sell during closing hours of the day and the index dropped to finish trading at 112,085, down 0.43%. Top positive contribution to the index came from Lucky Cement, Fauji Fertiliser Company, Lucky Core Industries and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), which cumulatively contributed 486 points. On the other hand, Engro Holdings, Pakistan Petroleum, PSO, OGDC and Meezan Bank lost ground, weighing the index down by 583 points, it said.
Traded value-wise, PSO (Rs1.97 billion), NBP (Rs1.21 billion), DG Khan Cement (Rs1.04 billion), Hubco (Rs1.02 billion), The Bank of Punjab (Rs792 million) and Lucky Cement (Rs733 million) dominated trading activity.
Hubco, through a notice to the stock exchange, announced that Hub Power Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hubco, through its newly incorporated subsidiary Hubco Green, was entering into a new line of business pertaining to establishing and operating electric vehicle charging infrastructure, including but not limited to importing, manufacturing and assembling charging accessories.
In that regard, Hubco Green is entering into a collaboration agreement with PSO for the installation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure at numerous PSO locations across Pakistan, it said.
Overall trading volumes at the PSX were recorded at 457.05 million shares compared with the previous session's tally of 596.7 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs23.2 billion.
Shares of 432 companies were traded. Of these, 135 stocks closed higher, 237 fell and 60 remained unchanged.
The Bank of Punjab was the volume leader with trading in 70.1 million shares, losing Rs0.76 to close at Rs11.10. It was followed by Sui Southern Gas Company with 32.8 million shares, losing Rs3.54 to close at Rs32.70 and Lotte Chemical with 23.4 million shares, losing Rs1.03 to close at Rs20.20.
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