Karachi: On Tuesday, Pakistan stock market remained under bearish trend as the profit-taking from investors and correction near psychological barriers. The benchmark index retreated for the third day in row after observing a bullish week.
The benchmark Karachi Share Index (KSE-100) lost 47.10 points (0.10 per cent) after closing at 46,674.77 points against the previous closing of 46,721.87 points. The market went up to 46,991.87 points during intra-day trading, while recorded as low as 46,628.97 points.
Trading volume increased to 664.03 million shares today as compared to 428.6 million traded in the previous session, according to PSX website data. The daily traded value increased to Rs 28.37 billion from Rs 22.18 billion in the previous session, the data said.
KSE-100 index opened the day positively and reached up above 46,900 points with a jump of almost 200 points in the first five minutes of the trade. The sentiments by the mid-day were high that kept the index well above 46,500 points level. However, the higher prices and the room created for technical correction triggered profit taking forcing Index to fall in negative territory, traders and analyst said.
At the start of the day certain positive news supported market sentiments. Investors were optimistic due to improved trade deficit statistics along with news the renewed interest in oil and energy stocks was due to an upward movement in oil prices in international markets that reached pre-COVID levels.
Benchmark Brent crude futures picked up 0.7 per cent to stand at $60.97 a barrel by the mid-morning. US standard West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) was up 0.5 per cent at $58.25 a barrel.
The rise means that oil has eradicated the historic losses that were caused by the spread of the coronavirus pandemic last spring.
Pakistan’s trade deficit swelled 8.27 per cent to $14.96 billion in the first seven months of 2020-21 from $13.82bn over the corresponding period last year, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data showed on Monday.
The trade deficit posted a positive trend mainly driven by an increase in imports especially of raw materials and semi-finished products for use in domestic industries. The trade gap has been widening since December 2020.
The share price of Khyber Textile increased by Rs 20.45 to Rs 293.50 while National Refinery gained Rs 19.44 to Rs 514.07. On the other hand, Rafhan Maize lost Rs 269.13 today to close at Rs 10,527.43 while Nestle Pakistan lost Rs 142.50 to close at Rs 6,298.33.
