KARACHI: The Pakistan equity market witnessed another slow session on Thursday in the wake of a continuous decline in the rupee value against the dollar, analysts said.
An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the market continued to trade sideways after opening in the positive zone, where economic and political unrest kept the investors at bay.
“The volumes remained dry across the main board. However, value-buying was recorded in the last trading hour,” he added.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares Index gained 58.74 points, or 0.14 per cent, to close at 41,824.79 points. The KSE-30 shares index gained 0.01 per cent, to close at 15,710.22 points.
Shuja Qureshi at JS Global said that the investors’ sentiments remained positive, as the KSE-100 Index opened in the green zone.
“However, the bourse remained volatile where it continued the trend of various ups and downs throughout the session. The cement sector was the top performer, as the sentiments in the sector remained positive,” he added.
The continuous decline in the value of the rupee against the greenback remains a major concern for the market, Qureshi said.
As many as 320 scrips were active, of which 145 advanced, 151 declined and 24 remained unchanged.
The ready market volumes stood at 92.93 million shares, compared with the turnover of 108.70 million shares in the last trading session.
The companies, which reflected the highest gains included Gatron Industries, up Rs28.91 to close at Rs428.90/share; and Thal Industries, up Rs16.13 to close at Rs275/share.
The companies that reflected the most losses included Sapphire Textile, down Rs55.40 to close at Rs1,055.10/share; and Reliance Cotton, down Rs34 to close at Rs426/share.
The highest volumes were witnessed in Maple Leaf with a turnover of 8.40 million shares. The scrip gained 89 paisas to close at Rs28.65/share; followed by Lotte Chemical with a turnover of 6.73 million shares. It gained Rs1.32 to close at Rs30.11/share. Hascol Petrol remained the third with a turnover of 5.51 million shares. It gained one paisa to finish at Rs6.97/share.
