KARACHI: Bulls failed to overcome the selling pressure due to profit-taking in the second half of the trading day at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). The market managed to recover in the first half of the trading day that provoked profit-taking before the day ended.
At the start of the day, the investors came back at the selective buying on the back of some encouraging news regarding the macroeconomic situation ahead and the fall in COVID-19 infections in the last five days.
The Karachi Share Index (KSE-100) ended the day 82.96 points (0.17 percent) down at 47,346.16 points against the previous closing of 47,429.12 points. The market went as high as 47,662.68 points during intra-day trading while recorded as low as 47,244.93 points.
Trading volumes moved up to 541.3 million shares today compared to 494.5 million shares during the previous trading day, while the daily traded value also moved down to Rs17.6 billion from Rs15.36 billion during the last session, the data said.
The market started the day in a positive mood as the investors already had buying orders at the start of the trade. The fresh buying supported the benchmark Index to breach the 47,500 points barrier in the first 30 minutes of the trade. However, the recovery in share prices on the intraday levels made investors book profit to compensate for the losses in the last two sessions.
Pakistan recorded less than 1,000 new COVID-19 infections after a week. According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the country registered 830 new cases while 25 people succumbed to the deadly virus in the last 24 hours.
Pakistan is expected to receive more than one billion rupees from international organisations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, under an international healthcare assistance programme in August this year. The money will be used to buy vaccines and equipment to combat and mitigate the impacts of COVID-19, sources in the Ministry of Finance said. A joint meeting of the IMF and World Bank task force was held last week on the issue.
The share price of Pakistan Tobacco increased by Rs39.99 to Rs1,419.99, while Exide Pakistan gained Rs38.76 to Rs555.57. On the other hand, Rafhan Maize lost Rs600 today to close at Rs9,650 while Wyeth Pakistan lost Rs138.42 to close at Rs1,935.25.
