PSX closes below 74,000 as market decline continues

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) experienced another day of decline on Thursday, with the benchmark KSE-100 index falling by 356.51 points, or 0.48 per cent, to close at 73,862.93. This brings the total loss for the week to over 2,015 points, representing a 2.7 per cent decrease.

The market’s downward trend is largely attributed to investor concerns over potential increases in Capital Gains Tax (CGT) and dividend tax in the upcoming fiscal year 2024-25 budget.

During Thursday’s trading session, the KSE-100 index fluctuated within a range of 824.93 points, reaching an intraday high of 74,593.33 points (+373.89) and a low of 73,768.40 points (-451.04). The total trading volume was 112.79 million shares.

Out of the 100 companies listed on the index, 23 ended the day with gains, 69 saw losses, and 8 remained unchanged.

The sectors that significantly contributed to the index’s decline included Commercial Banks (88.6 points), Oil & Gas Exploration Companies (51.22 points), Fertilizer (49.53 points), Leather & Tanneries (34.02 points), and Oil & Gas Marketing Companies (25.97 points).

Conversely, some sectors provided modest support to the index. These included Automobile Assemblers (7.8 points), Insurance (2.67 points), Real Estate Investment Trusts (1.59 points), Modarabas (0.86 points), and Textile Weaving (0.29 points).

Among individual companies, the biggest detractors from the index were SRVI (34.02 points), FFC (32.74 points), OGDC (31.83 points), MEBL (27.36 points), and UBL (21.97 points).

On the positive side, companies like SYS (23.25 points), BAFL (19.88 points), LUCK (14.69 points), PPL (12.97 points), and ENGRO (11.53 points) managed to offset some of the losses.

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