KSE-100 declines 328 points amid profit-taking

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed range-bound activity and lost its bullish run after six straight sessions closing bearish on Friday. The KSE-100 index shed 328 points amid profit-taking at the peak level.

The KSE-100 index decreased by 327.6 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 118,442.18 points, down from 118,769.77 points recorded in the last session. The highest index of the day remained at 119,405.92 points, while the lowest level was recorded at 118,334.4 points.

Ahsan Mehanti, an analyst at Arif Habib Corp, said stocks closed under pressure after the government raised profit rates on National Savings Schemes (NSS) in line with the Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) decision to maintain key policy rate.

A weakening rupee, economic uncertainty due to a 1.8 per cent contraction in large-scale manufacturing (LSM) for 7MFY25, and concerns over pending IMF approval for relief on industrial power tariffs contributed to the bearish close, he said.

The KSE-30 index decreased by 156.53 points 0.43 per cent to 36,375.52 points against 36,532.05 points.Traded shares dropped by 298 million shares to 369.119 million shares against 667.875 million shares. The trading value decreased to Rs23.273 billion from Rs38.525 billion. Market capital narrowed to Rs14.398 trillion against Rs14.43 trillion. Of the 435 companies active in the session, 193 closed in green, 190 in red and 52 remained unchanged.

Analyst Nabeel Haroon at Topline Securities said that range-bound activity was observed, as the index traded between its intraday high of +636 points and intraday low of -435 points to close at 118,442 level (down by -0.28 per cent).

Top positive contributions to the index came from SYS, NML, ILP, MTL and SNGP, as they cumulatively contributed +222 points to the index, on the other hand, FFC, HUBC, LUCK, MARI and UBL lost value to weigh down on the index by -344 points

Traded value wise MARI (Rs2.57 billion), PSO (Rs2.01 billion), SNGP (Rs936 million), OGDC (Rs726 million) and ATRL (Rs631 million) dominated the trading activity

The highest increase was recorded in Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited, which rose by Rs165.56 to Rs23,565.55 per share, followed by Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited, which increased by Rs61.94 to Rs9,100 per share. A significant decline was noted in Al-Ghazi Tractors Limited, which fell by Rs26.40 to Rs545.30 per share; Lucky Cement Limited followed it, which closed lower by Rs21.70 to Rs1,527.79 per share.

Muhammad Hasan Ather, an analyst at JS Global, said profit-taking continued across the board. “Moving forward, we advise investors to avail any downside as an opportunity to buy in energy sectors,” he advised.

Cnergyico PK remained the volume leader with 49.087 million shares, which closed lower by 23 paisas to Rs7.98 per share. Pak Refinery, with 27.365 million shares, followed it, which closed lower by 99 paisas to Rs38.14 per share.

Other significant turnover stocks included Fauji Foods Ltd, BO Punjab XD, Sui South Gas, WorldCall Telecom, Pak Elektron, TPL Properties, Treet Corp and Sui North Gas.

In the futures market, 317 companies recorded trading, 122 of which increased, 189 decreased and six remained unchanged.