Karachi, February 27, 2019: Following the ongoing tension between Pakistan and India, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) was remained volatile on Wednesday and closed lower.
The market steep decline from 41,767 points and reached another significant decline of 1491 points, taking the index down to 37,330 pints, which is virtually the same level it was before the past rally.
Scrips, all and sundry went down in the crisis of confidence which was caused by the border confrontation with India and heightened tensions due to taking down of Indian aircrafts by Pakistan Air Force (PAF) on Wednesday morning.
Several leveraged positions are believed to have become a casualty of steep decline. Recovery settled after DG ISPR’s press conference, which further gained ground after PM’s address in the closing half hour.
Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corp said that stocks remained bearish amid major fall after military escalation between Pak-India that made investors stay on sidelines.
Institutional support witnessed in late session rally in oversold fertilizer and energy stocks, he said. Foreign outflows and uncertainty over terms of $12bn IMF bailout out package played a catalyst role in bearish close, he added.
The unadjusted closing was +36 points however, adjusted closing of KSE100 index ticked with 129 points decline. The Index closed at 38,693 points on Wednesday as against 38,822 points on Tuesday showing a decline of -0.3 percent.
Sectors contributing to the performance include O&GMCs (-25pts), Cement (-20pts), Autos (-18pts), Pharma (-17pts), Technology (-12pts), Tobacco (+27pts).
Volumes increased from increased significantly from 162mn shares to 274mn shares (+69% DoD). Average traded value also increased by 48% to reach US$ 74mn as against US$ 50mn.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include BOP, KEL, FCCL, EPCL and LOTCHEM, which formed 33% of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively include PAKT (+27pts), PPL (+26pts), HBL (+16pts), BAHL (+11pts), and MEBL (+10pts). Stocks that contributed negatively include MCB (-25pts), OGDC (-19pts), INDU (-12pts), KEL (-10pts) and HASCOL (-9pts).
