Range-bound PSX
KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a volatile session on Friday and closed lower due to investor caution and profit-taking.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index lost 50.37 points or 0.04 percent, closing at 119,102.67 points on Friday compared to 119,153 points on Thursday. Index saw a significant drop of over 450 points at the opening, reaching an intra-day low of 118,665.26 points. However, it managed to recover, ultimately closing slightly lower.
On Friday, BRIndex100 ended at 12,739.06 points, which was 30.1 points or 0.24 percent lower than the previous close with the total volume of 256.158 million shares. Meanwhile, BRIndex30 decreased by 158.67 points or 0.42 percent to settle at 37,505.92 points with the total share trading volume of 122.701 million.
Analysts said that a rangebound session was observed at the exchange on the last trading day of the week, as the index traded between its intraday high of 389 points and intraday low of 488 points with low volumes. According to Mubashir Anees of JS Global Capital, the market saw lackluster activity over the weekend, with low trading volumes. He said that the PSX followed the trend of most Asian and European markets, which also closed in negative territory with significant losses.
Trading activity saw a notable decline, with the ready market turnover dropping to 338.003 million shares from 589.772 million shares in the previous session. The value of shares traded also decreased, falling to Rs 18.511 billion from Rs 30.813 billion.
The overall market capitalization remained relatively stagnant, adding only Rs 2 billion to reach Rs 14.385 trillion, compared to Rs 14.383 trillion on Thursday. Out of the total 459 active trading companies, share value of 183 companies went up, while 232 companies' share value moved in negative and share value of 44 companies remained unchanged.
Among the most actively traded companies, Big Bird Foods Ltd ranked first with 32.68 million shares closing at Rs 53.86, followed by WorldCall Telecom, of which 19.363 million shares were traded and it closed at Rs 1.25. Descon Oxychem ranked third and closed at Rs 35.96 with 16.054 million shares turnover.
PIA Holding Company LimitedB again recorded the highest gains increase by Rs 1,823.93 and closed at a new high of Rs 20,063.21 followed by Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited whose share price value closed at Rs 23,100.00, up by Rs 204. Moreover, Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited and Nestle Pakistan Limited faced notable losses with share values decreased by Rs 110.46 and Rs 35.70 respectively to close at Rs 10,827.59 and Rs 7,018.72.
Meanwhile, BR Automobile Assembler Index closed at 21,723.33 points with a net negative change of 72.97 points or 0.33 percent with total turnover remaining 2.239 million shares. BR Cement Index settled at 9,985.06 points with a negative change of 54.46 points or 0.54 percent and a total turnover of 17.21 million.
BR Commercial Banks Index closed at 34,911.64 points down by 27.89 points or 0.08 percent with a total turnover of 17.72 million shares. On the other hand, BR Power Generation and Distribution Index ended at 19,944.62 points with a positive change of only 12.65 points or 0.06 percent with total turnover of 15.625 million shares.
BR Oil & Gas Index closed at 11,577.85 points with a net negative change of 32.54 points or 0.28 percent on 17.02 million shares turnover. While BR Technology & Communication Index finished at 5021.89 points marking a negative change of 41.05 points or 0.81 percent down, with total turnover of 41.19 million shares.
Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation attributed the stock market's losses to pre-budget uncertainty and concerns over weak exports. He cited investor worries about IMF-driven tax measures for exporters and industrialists, the National Assembly's approval of the off-grid captive power plants levy bill impacting industries, and rupee instability as key factors contributing to the negative close.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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