PSX plunges 1.58pc as power woes,political drama spook investors

Stocks fell sharply on Friday as investors as investors were cautious ahead of the general elections next year and worried about the rising power tariffs for industries, dealers said.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) benchmark 100-share index fell 1.58 percent, or 988.47 points, to close at 61,705.09 points, after touching a high of 62,995.22 and a low of 61,569.14 during the session. The KSE-30 index also fell by 377.20 points or 1.80 percent to close at 20,561.83 points.

"Stocks fell sharply lower in late session pressure on pre-poll uncertainty and major concerns for surging industrial power tariff to resolve power sector circular debt crises," said analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp.

"Over-leveraged positions and high borrowing costs also added to the selling pressure." Traded shares decreased by 141 million shares to 671.550 million shares from 812.383 million shares. The trading value decreased to Rs13.709 billion from Rs16.687 billion.

Market capital narrowed to Rs8.947 trillion against Rs9.071 trillion. Out of 352 companies active in the session, 116 closed in green, 226 in red and 10 remained unchanged. Analyst Nabeel Haroon at Topline Securities said the market remained range-bound during the first half of the trading session ahead of the long week end. "However, selling was observed in the second half of the trading session as the index declined to close at the 61,705 level."

Across-the-board selling was witnessed as index-heavy sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, chemical, commercial banks, oil and gas marketing companies, oil and gas exploration companies, refineries and pharmaceutical traded in the red.

Dealers said the negative sentiments were led by a rise in volatility on the political front after the Supreme Court (SC) approved former prime minister Imran Khan and ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s bail in the cypher case.

Investor participation declined as average traded volume and value stood at 669 million shares and Rs13.6 billion respectively. PPL, HBL, OGDC, HUBC and TRG lost value to weigh down on the index by 324 points. FFL was today`s volume leader with 48 million shares

The highest increase was recorded in Sapphire Textile Mills Limited, which rose by Rs20 to Rs1,350 per share, followed by Shield Corporation Limited, which increased by Rs19.99 to Rs294.99 per share. A significant decline was noted in Sapphire Fibres Limited, which fell by Rs118.12 to Rs1,456.88 per share, followed by Pakistan Tobacco Company Limited, which closed lower by Rs44.86 to Rs1,060.10 per share.

K-Electric Ltd. remained the volume leader with 113.995 million shares which closed lower by 42 paisas to Rs5.18 per share. Fauji Foods Ltd followed it with 85.999 million shares, which closed higher by 30 paisas to Rs11.47 per share.

Other significant turnover stocks included Cnergyico PK, WorldCall Telecom, Kohinoor Spining, Hascol Petrol, P.T.C.L., B.O. Punjab, Pak Elektron and Agritech Limited. A total of 315 companies recorded future shares, of which 59 increased, 252 decreased and 4 remained unchanged.