Pakistan Stock Exchange halts winning streak, closes losing 228 points

WEB DESK: In today’s trading session, the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s benchmark KSE-100 Index experienced a correction, marking a deviation from its seven consecutive sessions of gains.

The session concluded on Wednesday with the index settling at 60,502, reflecting a decrease of 228.27 points, or 0.38 per cent.

The day commenced with a rally, propelling the index beyond the historic 61,000 mark for the first time.

However, within approximately an hour of trading, selling pressure emerged, eroding the initial gains and keeping the index in the red for the remainder of the session.

Throughout the day, the index exhibited a wide trading range of 1,227.66 points, reaching an intraday high of 61,555.84 (+825.57) and a low of 60,328.18 (-402.09) points. The total volume of the KSE-100 Index reached 343.522 million shares, indicating active market participation.

Among the 100 index companies, 25 closed with gains, 55 with losses, 1 remained unchanged, and 19 did not trade.

The decline in the KSE-100 Index was primarily influenced by commercial banks with 112 points, textile composites with 42.55 points, pharmaceuticals with 41.84 points, power generation and distribution with 36.92 points, and oil and gas exploration companies with 32.23 points.

Notable contributors to the index’s decline were HBL with 63.53 points, MEBL with 35.04 points, HUBC with 28.92 points, ILP with 26.86 points, and SEARL with 25.75 points.

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Conversely, the index received support from Automobile Assembler with 42.73 points, Miscellaneous with 24.76 points, Inv. Banks/Inv. Cos./Securities Cos. with 23.16 points, Tobacco with 12.84 points, and Refinery with 12.41 points.

Specific companies that added points to the index included MTL with 36.28 points, PSEL with 22.68 points, ENGRO with 17.01 points, MCB with 16.48 points, and DGKC with 16.01 points.

In the broader market, the All-Share index concluded at 40,272.25 with a net loss of 128.80 points.

The total market volume amounted to 692.220 million shares, slightly lower than the previous session, while the traded value increased to Rs27.04 billion, up by Rs0.90 billion.

A total of 281,820 trades were reported in 384 companies, with 141 closing with gains, 230 with losses, and 13 remaining unchanged.

It is noteworthy that the KSE-100 has witnessed significant gains of 19,049 points, or 45.95 per cent, during the fiscal year.

Additionally, the ongoing calendar year has seen a cumulative increase of 20,082 points, equivalent to 49.68 per cent in the KSE-100.