KARACHI: Pakistan’s stock market, despite opening on a bullish note today, failed to maintain a recovery mood. The appreciated prices after the previous two days’ gains incited investors to book profit as a recovery and secure investment, while the worrying estimates related to COVID-19 vaccination also kept investors cautious.
The Karachi Share Index (KSE-100) lost 159.75 points (0.36%) after closing at 44,428.10 points against the previous closing of 44,587.85 points. The market went as high as 44,879.79 points during intra-day trading, while recording as low as 44,330.81 points.
Trading volume declined to 313.5 million shares today, as compared to 443.9 million traded in the previous session, according to Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX)’s website data. The daily traded value declined to Rs 17.4 billion from Rs 25.9 billion in the previous session, the data said.
As an extension of the previous recovery mood, the KSE-100 index opened the day positively and reached up to 44,847 points, with a jump of 259 points in the first thirty minutes of the trade. However, the selling pressure pushed the index into negative several times, levelling down by 35.95 points to 44,551 points at noon. Despite several attempts and positive moves on the day, the market ended the day in negative territory.
The corrections on the way up are not negative, traders and analysts said, as they prevents heavy panic selling at the end of a long bull run.
Today, the approaching weekend and the desperation of booking profits after the previous two days of gains increased selling pressure. Another factor was a cautious approach adopted by investors to keep their portfolios light, as COVID-related developments can lead to lockdowns and curbs on trade activities any time, they added.
The share price of Service Ind. Limited increased by Rs 84.05 to Rs 1,204.73, while Gatron Ind. gained Rs 30 to Rs 579.99. On the other hand, Bata Pakistan lost Rs 84 today to close at Rs 1,900, while Phillip Morris Pakistan lost Rs 56.34 to close at Rs 981.66.
