Economic and political turbulence keep KSE-100 in check

December 26, 2018 (MLN): The market remained volatile throughout today’s session after which the KSE-100 index lost nearly 90 and concluded at 38,218 points. This volatility is attributed to the investors’ concern over steep IMF conditions.

Furthermore, a sharp decline in global markets following the U.S. government shutdown, Trump’s tension over hike in Federal Reserve key policy rate as well as plunging oil prices casted bearish spell on the benchmark index.

Oil & Gas Exploration Companies and Commercial Banks emerged as major losers as they collectively took away over 89 and 45 points from the index.

Among the index heavy weights, the scrips of OGDCL (-1.55%), POL (-2.32%), PPL (-1.37%) and UBL (-1.65%) endured most of the losses.

Throughout the day, the index moved between an intraday high of 38,358 points and an intraday low of 38,168 points, recording a range of 189 points. Around 61 million shares traded today for the scrips listed on the benchmark index with their total value recorded at Rs 3.14 billion.

The KSE All Share index, however, exhibited a reverse trend as the index gained 29 points by the day end and closed in at 28,509 points.

Over 88.5 million shares of the scrips listed within the broader KSE All Share Index were traded today, with their value recorded at Rs 3.75 billion. While the share price of 159 companies went up and 119 companies went down, the prices of 26 companies however remained unchanged.

The market is expected to remain volatile in the upcoming sessions.

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