KARACHI: The Pakistan bourse witnessed a profit-taking session on the first day of week, as the negotiations between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have not ended yet; thus, exerting pressure at the bourse.
“Investors’ interest was low during the session, amid expected hike in the upcoming MPS [monetary policy statement] announcement coupled with the continuous currency depreciation,” an analyst at Pearl Securities said.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares Index shed 0.03 per cent, or 12.89 points, to close at 45,736.26 points. The KSE-30 shares index gained 0.11 per cent, or 20.34 points, to close at 17,746.2 points.
As many as 345 scrips were active, of which 125 advanced, 191 declined and 29 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 172.85 million shares, compared with the turnover of 192.46 million shares in the last trading session.
An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said the market remained dull, as the battle between the bull and bear was boxed in the range-bound area.
“Inflationary concerns feared the investors, as weekly inflation witnessed the highest increase in three months and further weakening of the rupee against the dollar. In a bid to curb runway inflation in the country, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Saturday raised the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) by one percentage point for scheduled banks for the first time in 13 years.”
Expectation of interest rate hike by the central bank in the upcoming monetary policy caused profit-booking in cyclical stocks and accumulation in the banking stocks. On the flip-side, the activity from institutional investors remained lacklustre.
The companies that reflected the highest gains included Colgate Palmolive, up Rs68.99 to close at Rs2,500/share; and Bata Pakistan, up Rs59.83 to close at Rs1,909/share.
The companies, which reflected the most losses included Unilever Foods, down Rs529.5 to close at Rs18,949.5/share; and Ismail Industries, down Rs35.03 to close at Rs432.12/share.
The highest volumes were witnessed in Hascol Petrol with a turnover of 18.57 million shares. The scrip gained 64 paisas to close at Rs6.53/share; followed by Ghani Global with a turnover of 17.84 million shares. It gained Rs1.06 to close at Rs34.15/share. WorldCall Telecom remained the third with a turnover of 11.22 million shares. It gained five paisas to finish at Rs2.39.
