KARACHI: On Monday, the KSE-100 index dropped by 406.80 points following the border tensions with India, pressure from futures roll-over and continuous rise in COVID-19 cases around the world.
The Karachi Share Index (KSE-100) closed down by 406.80 points (-0.93 per cent) after closing at 43,333.76 points against the previous closing of 43,740.56 points. The market went up to 43,791.06 points during intra-day trading, while recorded as low as 43,287.54 points.
Trading volume increased to 516.46 million shares today as compared to 482.62 million traded in the previous session, according to PSX website data. The daily traded value decreased to Rs 22.467 billion from Rs 23.725 billion in the previous session, the data said.
According to the AKD Securities, the market risk appetite was sapped by weak international oil prices (impacting the oil & gas heavyweights), escalating tensions on the eastern border and pressure from futures roll-over. The analyst said that additionally, the benchmark KSE-100 Index tracked the weakness in global markets on concerns over a new and faster-transmitting strain of the coronavirus in the UK which can lead to renewed and stricter lockdowns weakening global growth.
This led to broad-based profit taking with the heavyweights’ oil & gas and banks weighing down the benchmark, the analyst claimed.
In term of volumes, the overall market traded 695 million shares where TRG recorded the highest volumes for the day with 35 million shares traded followed by PAEL (17 million shares traded) and UNITY (15 million shares).
The major contribution to the index came from PAKT (up 3.16%) while OGDC was the biggest drag on the index (down 4.37%).
The share of Service Ind. Ltd gained Rs 64.52 closing at Rs 924.87 while Pak Tobacco’s share gained Rs 49 to close at Rs 1599. Meanwhile share of Unilever Foods decreased by 1,000 to close at Rs 12,600 while Nestle Pakistan share further lost Rs 165 today to close at Rs 6,735.
