KARACHI: The Stocks tumbled big time on Monday settling at 43,393 points, losing 1,448 points compared with the previous trading session due to the unstable political and economic conditions.
Analysts and stock brokers are advising the investors to adopt a cautious approach as the stocks declined 3.23 per cent, the largest decline at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) since December 2, 2021.
“Going forward, market sentiment appears weak and a cautious approach is recommended,” Waqar Iqbal at JS Global said.
An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the market witnessed bloodbath throughout the day due to further depreciation in the value of rupee against the dollar and uncertainty regarding debt repayments.
“Moreover, depletion of foreign exchange reserves compelled the investors to remain on the sidelines and await a positive trigger i.e., the revival of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme,” he added.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares Index shed 3.23 per cent, or 1,447.67 points, to close at 43,393.14 points. The KSE-30 shares Index shed 3.63 per cent, or 622.05 points, to close at 16,526.48 points.
As many as 363 scrips were active of which 38 advanced, 311 declined and 14 remained unchanged.
The ready market volumes stood at 305.2 million shares, compared with the turnover of 189.48 million shares in the last trading session.
An analyst at Topline Securities said that the selling spree was witnessed across the board with cements, technology and banks taking the battering.
“The session remained dull as profit selling was observed across the board. On the contrary, hefty volumes were observed in the 3rd tier stocks,” he added.
Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said that the stocks fell across the board in the post-earning season on economic uncertainty. “A slump in the global equities, rupee instability, and uncertainty over the approval of $7.4 billion Saudi aid package sought by the government played a catalyst role in the bearish close,” he added.
Though the fresh cabinet formation is somewhat similar to the previous tenure of PML-N (2013-2018), the ongoing stress on key economic dials suggest the upcoming budget should not necessarily be similar to PML-N’s previous pro-growth budgets.
The market would be able to grasp a clearer picture of the incumbent government’s economic policies in the federal budget fiscal year 2023, which is reportedly to be announced in the first week of June 2022.
The companies which reflected the highest gains included Murree Brewery up Rs18.95 to close at Rs423.95/share, and Thal Industries up Rs19.57 to close at Rs282/share.
The companies which reflected the most losses included Bhanero Textile down Rs115.34 to close at Rs1,422.55/share, and Rafhan Maize down Rs850 to close at Rs10,750/share.
The highest volumes were witnessed in Lote Chemicals with a turnover of 27 million shares. The scrip gained 54 paisas to close at Rs25.2/share, followed by Cnergyico with a turnover of 23.85 million shares. It shed 55 paisas to close at Rs5.56/share. Worldcall Telecom remained the third with a turnover of 20.9 million shares. It shed 11 paisas to finish at Rs1.57/share.