Karachi: Pakistan’s stock market remains stuck under a bearish spell for the third day in a row, as profit-taking and cautious strategy by investors made the benchmark KSE-100 index close below 45,500 points on Friday.
The Karachi Share Index (KSE-100) lost 127.15 points (0.29%) after closing at 44,300.95 points, against the previous closing of 44,428.10 points. The market went as high as 44,610.44 points during intra-day trading, while recording as low as 44,198.59 points.
Trading volume declined to 266.84 million shares today, as compared to 313.5 million traded in the previous session, according to Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX)’s website data. The daily traded value declined to Rs14.38 billion from Rs17.43 billion in the previous session, the data said.
The market opened on a bullish trend on the back of news of improved inflow of funds, better tax collections, and positive expectations.
However, despite the favorable news, the cautious feeling related to COVID pushed the market back in a negative mood, analysts and readers said. There is a prevalent feeling of caution among investors regarding the increase in COVID cases and lockdowns. To keep the risk level limited, especially over the weekend, most investors
preferred to lighten their portfolios, they added.
The share price of Rafhan Maize increased by Rs680 to Rs10,200, while Colgate Palmolive gained Rs138 to Rs2,848. On the other hand, Pakistan Tobacco lost Rs60.24 today to close at Rs1,501.65, while Service Industries Limited lost Rs47.87 to close at Rs1,156.86.
