PSX Closing Bell: House Of Cards

February 12, 2024 (MLN): The local bourse kicked off the week on a negative note, with its key benchmark KSE-100 index plummeting 1,878.4 points or 2.98% to close the session at 61,065.

This was the ninth-largest daily drawdown in absolute terms for the index. On Friday, it had plunged 1,200 points.

The sell-off comes as investors’ confidence has taken a significant hit due to the election outcome pointing towards increased political instability.

The country needs to secure a larger and longer International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan program to meet its high debt obligations. However, continued political instability could put this in jeopardy, raising default risk.

By around 02:52pm, the index plunged as much as 2,296 points or 3.65%, before paring some of its gains.

The index remained negative throughout the session showing an intraday high of 62,634.38 (-309.37) and a low of 60,647.68 (-2,296.07) points.

The total volume of the KSE-100 index was 200.894 million shares.

The market remained heavily skewed towards the downside, with 86 companies closing down and only 4 managing to close up.

While 2 companies were unchanged, and 8 remained untraded.

Meanwhile, the government on Sunday dismissed the negative perception that was being created regarding the Circular Debt Reduction and Tariff Rationalization Plans.

Despite the clarification, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies sector was the biggest drag for the KSE-100 index, stripping off 518 points.

Other sectors contributing negatively to the index were Commercial Banks with 240.75, Cement with 164.69, Oil & Gas Marketing Companies with 137.95, and Power Generation & Distribution with 136.38 points.

On the flip-side, the only sectors that landed in the green zone were Synthetic & Rayon and Leasing Companies adding 4.72 and 0.21 points repectively.

Companies that dragged the index lower were OGDC with 213.61, PPL with 178.08, MARI with 103.2, HUBC with 78.46 and LUCK with 67.25 points.

On the other hand, companies that added points to the index were IBFL with 4.72, BOP with 1.68, INDU with 0.27, and PGLC with 0.21 points.

In the broader market, the All-Share index closed at 41,355.33 with a net loss of 1,226.28 points.

Total market volume was 349.975 million shares compared to 258.074 from the previous session while traded value was recorded at Rs12.75 billion showing an increase of Rs0.20bn.

There were 160,369 trades reported in 349 companies with 32 closing up, 298 closing down and 19 remaining unchanged.

Sazgar Engineering Works Limited (SAZEW) reported a massive surge in the sale of its auto rickshaws in January 2024, with 2,229 units sold compared to just 275 three-wheelers in the previous month. Additionally, the company achieved its highest-ever sales of 4-wheelers, totaling 967 units.

To note, the KSE-100 has gained 19,613 points or 47.31% during the fiscal year, whereas the ongoing calendar year has witnessed a cumulative decrease of 1,386 points, equivalent to 2.22%.

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