PSX Closing Bell: Knives out

November 26, 2024 (MLN): The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) suffered a major setback today as the political unrest caused by ongoing protests prompted bears to enter the market and initiate aggressive selling.

As a result, the benchmark KSE-100 Index closed Tuesday's trading session at 94,574.16, reflecting a significant drop of 3,505.62 points, or 3.57%.

The index remained highly volatile, trading within a wide range of 5,639.00 points, reaching an intraday high of 99,819.59 (+1,739.81) and a low of 94,180.59 (-3,899.19) points.

The total volume of the KSE-100 Index was 517.94 million shares.

Of the 100 index companies 13 closed up, and 87 closed down.

Top losers during the day were KEL (-10.40%), MEBL (-10.00%), FABL (-9.99%), FCEPL (-9.98%), and GLAXO (-9.74%).

On the other hand, top gainers were JVDC (+8.75%), MEHT (+7.00%), HMB (+6.79%), PGLC (+5.98%), and HBL (+4.98%).

In terms of index-point contributions, companies that dragged the index lower were MEBL (-384.89pts), FFC (-297.27pts), OGDC (-279.34pts), PPL (-225.74pts), and HUBC (-197.78pts).

Meanwhile, companies that added points to the index were HBL (+140.12pts), HMB (+83.26pts), BAHL (+56.02pts), BAFL (+33.76pts), and NBP (+31.69pts).

Sector-wise, KSE-100 Index was let down by Oil & Gas Exploration Companies (-757.53pts), Fertilizer (-609.24pts), Cement (-450.48pts), Power Generation & Distribution (-279.95pts), and Pharmaceuticals (-229.71pts).

While the index was supported by Property (+19.20pts), Sugar & Allied Industries (+3.92pts), and Leasing Companies (+0.21pts).

It is worth noting that the banking sector was the most volatile sector due to certain developments within the sector.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) decided that Islamic Banking Institutions (IBIs) must pay a profit on their PKR savings deposits equivalent to at least 75% of the weighted average gross yield of all pools of an IBI.

This decision dealt a major blow to Islamic banks, with MEBL and FABL plummeting by as much as 10%.

Meanwhile, the banking sector emerged as the most volatile sector due to the certain developments that the sector underwent.

On the positive side, the central bank issued another notification exempting the Minimum Profit Rate on the deposits of financial institutions, public sector enterprises and public limited companies.

In the broader market, the All-Share Index closed at 59,784.46 with a net loss of 2,387.36 points or 3.84%.

Total market volume was 1,116.32 million shares compared to 640.26m from the previous session while traded value was recorded at Rs43.29 billion showing an increase of Rs17.67bn.

There were 424,256 trades reported in 455 companies with 52 closing up, 355 closing down, and 48 remaining unchanged.

To note, the KSE-100 has gained 16,129 points or 20.56% during the fiscal year, whereas it has increased 32,123 points or 51.44% so far this calendar year.

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