Closing Bell: A crown of thorns

June 10, 2019 (MLN): The KSE-100 index welcomed the market participants with a crown of thorns after a long hiatus, as it easily submitted to adverse sentimentalities generated by annual budget which is to be announced tomorrow. The benchmark index ultimately lost 937 points and closed the session at 34,567 points.

As pointed out earlier, the index was also browbeaten by unfavorable movements in exchange rate, as well as selling pressure caused by risk-averse participants.

Sector wise, the index was let down by Commercial Banks with 240 points, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 159 points, Fertilizer with 106 points, Cement with 104 points and Oil & Gas Marketing Companies with 70 points.

The most points taken off the index was by ENGRO which stripped the index of 63 points followed by HBL with 61 points, PPL with 60 points, OGDC with 58 points and LUCK with 54 points.

Of the 89 traded companies in the KSE-100 index, 8 closed up, 81 closed down, while 2 remained unchanged. Total volume traded for the index was 74.89 million shares.

All Share Volume decreased by 32.90 Million to 91.74 Million Shares. Market Cap decreased by Rs.151.85 Billion.

Total companies traded were 314 compared to 301 from the previous session. Of the scrips traded 49 closed up, 246 closed down while 19 remained unchanged.