Stocks down on economic, virus nerves

Stocks fell on Friday on economic as well as new virus concerns amid thin trade as investors mostly stayed home on the third day of eid, traders said.

Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Shares Index lost 80.19 points or 0.17 percent to 47,793.07 points, touching a day high of 47,947.66 points and a low of 47,691.33 points.

Ahsan Mehanti, senior analyst at Arif Habib Corp, said stocks closed lower in the earnings season on investor concerns over economic uncertainty amid falling rupee and surging trade deficit.

Slump in global crude oil prices, non-receipt of $400 million World Bank on weak IMF ties and worries over diplomatic row and uncertainty over the economic impact of pandemic’s fourth wave on exports and growth pushed the stocks into red zone, Mehanti added.

Following the benchmark, KSE-30 Shares Index also dropped 31.94 points or 0.17 percent to end at 19,161.24 points.

Nabeel Haroon, an analyst at Topline Securities, said lackluster activity was observed at the exchange as the index traded between its intraday high of 73

points and an intraday low of 187 points.

“This lackluster activity can largely be attributed to higher than expected current account deficit of $1.644 million in June 2021, compared to $650 million in May 2021, and lack of interest by investors on the third day of Eid-ul-Azha,” he said.

Major contribution to the index came from SNGP, SYS, HUBC, LUCK, and FFC, as they cumulatively contributed 68 points to the index, on the other hand ENGRO, MLCF, PSO, TRG, and PSX dented the index by 50 points.

Traded shares further decreased by six million to 314.16 million against 320.97 million shares. Trading value dropped to Rs11.09 billion against Rs11.89 billion. Market capital decreased to Rs8.363 trillion from Rs8.365 trillion.

Out of 417 active shares in the session, 160 grabbed gains, 237 posted losses, while 20 ended neutral.

Highest gains were recorded in shares of Nestle Pakistan, rising Rs70 to close at Rs5,960 per share, followed by Colgate Palmolive, gaining Rs47.53 to end at Rs2,698 per share.

Major losses were noted in shares of Thal Industries Corp, shedding Rs21.51 to finish at Rs279.49 per share, followed by KSB Pumps, losing Rs19.40 to end at Rs274.93 per share.

Traders mostly stayed away from the market as they were critical of the government for not announcing the third eid day as holiday.

Several people sacrifice animals on the third day as well. Scanty volume shows the low level of participation.

Byco Petroleum, Dandot (R), Pace (Pak) Ltd, Sui North Gas, WorldCall Telecom, Treet Corp, K-Electric Ltd, TPL Corp Ltd, Avanceon Ltd, and Sui South Gas were among some of the well-traded stocks.

Byco Petroleum led volumes with 34.05 million shares, losing 32 paisas to settle at Rs10.45 per share. It was followed by Dandot (R) with 23.99 million shares, shedding 28 paisas to close at Re0.45 per share.

Turnover in the future contracts increased to 58.38 million shares from 55.17 million in the previous session.