PSX Closing Bell: Realm of Fear

December 24, 2021 (MLN): The capital market opened on a positive note on Friday but lack of positive triggers pushed investors towards profit booking which concluded the benchmark KSE-100 index at 44,118.39 after losing 148.52 points.

The optimistic approach faded away due to concerns of investors towards higher inflation and dip in total liquid foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) mainly due to external debt repayment.

Activity continued to remain side-ways as the market witnessed hefty volumes in the 3rd tier stocks. On the flip-side, in the second session institutional buyers started fetching value stocks due to attractive multiples, post-market note by Arif Habib Limited (AHL) noted.

The Index traded in a range of 427.27 points or 0.97 percent of the previous close, observing an intraday high of 44,468.89 and a low of 44,041.62.

Of the 96 traded companies in the KSE100 Index 38 closed up 57 closed down, while 1 remained unchanged. The total volume traded for the index was 70.96 million shares.

Sector-wise, the index was let down by technology & communication with 60 points, chemical with 36 points, cement with 25 points, oil & gas exploration companies with 17 points, and Refinery with 11 points.

The most points taken off the index was by TRG which stripped the index of 67 points followed by COLG with 33 points, LUCK with 15 points, MEBL with 13 points, and PPL with 10 points.

Sectors propping up the index were fertilizer with 9 points, pharmaceuticals with 8 points, power generation & distribution with 7 points, commercial banks with 5 points, and automobile parts & accessories with 4 points.

The most points added to the index were by ABOT which contributed 17 points followed by SYS with 15 points, FATIMA with 11 points, MCB with 8 points, and HUBC with 8 points.

All share volume decreased by 17.05 million to 223.38 million shares. Market cap decreased by Rs23.18 billion.

Total companies traded were 353 compared to 357 from the previous session. Of the scrips traded 136 closed up, 194 closed down while 23 remained unchanged.

Total trades decreased by 694 to 99,122.

Value Traded decreased by 0.68 billion to Rs7.34 billion

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