KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) failed to sustain upward trend as the inflated prices and the weekly two day off in sight made investors to lighten portfolios. However, the activity in oil and energy stocks and positive news flow helped the market to limit the decline at close.
Karachi Share Index (KSE-100) ended the day 33.37 points (0.07 per cent) down at 48,093.53 points against the previous closing of 48,126.90 points. The market went as high as 48,434.82 points during intra-day trading, while recorded as low as 48,001.73 points.
Trading volumes declined to 889.9 million shares today, as compared to 1.04 billion shares yesterday. The daily traded value also moved up to Rs31.65bn from Rs27.77bn in the previous session, the data said.
“The trend of intra-day corrections or a light corrections after the good upward rally seems favorable for the market,” traders an analysts said. “For example, in previous fall there were increased interest of investors in tech and cement stocks and now there were oil and energy to support against any heavy corrections.”
Oil prices rose for a third day on Thursday on expectations of a surge in fuel demand later this year, particularly in the United States, Europe and China.
Brent crude futures were up 40 cents, or 0.6%, at $71.75 a barrel, after earlier reaching the highest since September 2019. The international benchmark gained 1.6% on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) approved the summary moved by the Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) for exploration activities in Block-8 Iraq by Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL).
The share price of Wyeth Pakistan Limited increased by Rs198.49 to Rs2,845.15 while Nestle Pakistan gained Rs102.51 to Rs5,688.84. On the other hand, Unilever Foods lost Rs199 today to close at Rs16,300 while Millat Tractors lost Rs25.13 to close at Rs1,091.77.
