PSX edges lower
KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed nearly unchanged on Monday, amid ongoing geopolitical tensions between Pakistan and India.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index slightly decreased by 11.70 points to close at 114,102 points on Monday, down from 114,114 points in the previous session. The market opened on a negative note and remained under pressure, hitting an intraday high of 114,552.21 points and low of 113,077.67 points.
Analysts said the benchmark index was quite volatile during session, falling by 1,036 points in early trading. However, it made a strong recovery in the second half, mainly supported by the cement sector, as investors expected a possible rate cut in the monetary policy announcement made.
On Monday, BRIndex100 increased by 4.04 points to settle at 12,148.85 points with total share volume of 336 million. BRIndex30 gained 53.22 points or 0.15 percent to closed at 35,394.09 points with total volume of 229 million shares.
Trading volume at the ready counter increased to 390 million shares, up from 372 million shares in the previous session. Similarly, the total traded value on the ready counter declined to Rs 20 billion compared to Rs 23.28 billion in the previous session. The market capitalization slightly increased by Rs 14 billion to Rs 13.822 trillion. Out of 452 active scrips, 240 closed in positive and 155 in negative while the value of 57 stocks remained unchanged.
Power Cement was the volume leader with 41 million shares and closed at Rs 14.91 followed by WorldCall Telecom that closed at Rs 1.34 with 23.8 million shares. Maple Leaf ranked third with share trading of 23.5 million shares and it closed at Rs 71.60.
PIA Holding Company LimitedB and Nestle Pakistan Limited the top gainers increasing by Rs 480.30 and Rs 288.09 respectively to close at Rs 5,283.26 and Rs 7,190.36, while Atlas Honda Limited and Bata Pakistan Limited were the top losers declining by Rs 25.19 and Rs 15.29, respectively to close at Rs 1,150.36 and Rs 1,564.71.
BR Automobile Assembler Index closed at 22,343.12 points, recording a net gain of 285.29 points or 1.29 percent, with a total turnover of 4.58 million shares. The BR Cement Index ended the session at 9,669.29 points, up by 262.67 points or 2.79 percent, with a robust turnover of 120.65 million shares.
BR Commercial Banks Index closed at 33,351.57 points, posting a decline of 327.43 points or 0.97 percent, with a total turnover of 25.81 million shares. BR Power Generation and Distribution Index settled at 19,152.52 points, down by 122.96 points or 0.64 percent, on a turnover of 20.89 million shares.
The BR Oil and Gas Index finished at 11,007.54 points, losing 62.04 points or 0.56 percent, with a total turnover of 56.40 million shares. BR Technology & Communication Index closed at 4,827.83 points, down by 11.94 points or 0.25 percent, with a turnover of 38.33 million shares.
Analysts at Chase Securities said that despite no escalation on both sides, tension between Pakistan and India is remains high, and rumors of the US changing travel advisories for India and Pakistan are affecting market sentiment.
Anticipation of rate cut move spurred activity in cyclical stocks, particularly in the cement sector, where highly leveraged names like DGKC and Power Cement led the rally with gains of 4-7 percent.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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