KARACHI: The stocks plunged by 554.66 points on first trading session of this week amid complete lockdown rumours predicted by the Prime Minister Imran Khan yesterday and International Monetary Fund (IMF) whose negotiations with Pakistan stalled. The KSE-100 index closed at 39,632.52 points.
Pakistani Stocks went down throughout the day Monday as the Karachi share Index (KSE-100) index slipped by 554.66 points (-1.38 per cent) at 39.632.52 against the previous closing of 40,187.86.
Trading volume slightly enhanced to 195.4 million shares today as compared to 189.8 million traded in the previous session, according to PSX website data. The daily traded value decreased to Rs 7.476 billion from Rs 7.578 billion in the previous session, the data said.
The analyst at AKD Securities said that the stocks of banks, cement and fertilizer remained in a grip of selling pressure amid the news of growing coronavirus cases. The analyst said that as per the media reports, Pakistan has received debt relief of $800 from G-20 countries.
The successful government-IMF talks hinged on Pakistan taking unpopular measures including raising electricity tariffs, higher tax collection targets and increasing the repo-rate, were reasons of the declining stocks.
The market found support at lower levels (attractive valuations) particularly after the SBP maintained the policy rate at 7 per cent.
In last seven days, (the cases up 26% to 2,577 cases; 2,756 cases reported yesterday – positivity rate at 7.46 per cent), consequent rising mortalities and the government hinting a complete lockdown, as a result, weighted down market sentiments. The government had already imposed micro and smart lockdowns in several areas of different cities in Pakistan.
The overall market traded 322 million shares where UNITY recorded the highest volumes for the day with 15.4 million shares traded followed by HASCOL (15.3mn shares traded) and TRT (13.3mn shares). HBL contributed the most to the index decline (down 1.36 per cent).
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include UNITY, HASCOL, TRG, WTL and PRL, which formed 32% of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively to the index include COLG (+6pts), POL (+5pts), ABOT (+3pts), NESTLE (+3pts) and HMB (+3pts). Stocks that contributed negatively include HBL (-30pts), PSO (-26pts), TRG (-26pts), MEBL (-17pts) and MCB (-17pts).
