Stocks face profit-taking after two days of hefty gains
Stocks came under selling pressure at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday as the benchmark KSE-100 index gave up early gains and closed with a drop of over 700 points amid profit-taking.
At the commencement of trading, the market extended its healthy momentum of the past two days, hitting intra-day high at 123,418 within the very first hour.
However, profit-taking emerged soon afterwards, which gradually took the index to intra-day low of 122,142 before the end of trading. At close, the KSE-100 index settled at 122,046.46, down 715.18 points, or 0.58%.
'After a gain of almost 6.6k points (up 5.7%) in the last two sessions post Iran-Israel ceasefire, the PSX had a profit-taking day today (Thursday). Resultantly, the KSE-100 index wrapped up the session at 122,046 by shedding 715 points,' said Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Limited (AHL).
During trading hours, the benchmark index saw some selling, with FY25 settlement falling on Monday (June 30). There are some institutional investors, who follow settlement date accounting and need to square their positions, if needed, he said.
'Early gains were extended up to 123,400 before the market came off to close 0.58% lower day-on-day at 122,046,' wrote AHL in its daily report. While 71 stocks declined, only 27 advanced, reflecting a broadly negative sentiment.
Engro Fertilisers (+2.22%), National Foods (+8.07%) and Pakistan Petroleum (+0.79%) were the top contributors to index gains.
On the other hand, Bank AL Habib (-2.84%), Lucky Cement (-1.86%) and Habib Bank (-2.59%) were the biggest drags, it said.
In a key event, the Supreme Court provided a boost to the cement sector by suspending the Lahore High Court's directive that required Punjab-based manufacturers to pay 6% royalty on the ex-factory price.
Additionally, Organic Meat Company gained 5.64% after announcing plans to begin exporting beef casings to Europe, a significant move seen by investors as a step towards diversification and growth, AHL said.
'Heading into the final session of the week, the KSE-100 has risen 1.69% week-to-date,' it said and expected the 120,000 level to act as a key support and potential base for push towards 130,000.
Overall trading volumes increased to 758.5 million shares compared with Wednesday's tally of 749.8 million. The value of shares traded was Rs30 billion. Shares of 473 companies were traded. Of these, 200 stocks closed higher, 237 fell and 36 remained unchanged.
Pakistan International Bulk Terminal was the volume leader with trading in 37.5 million shares, losing Rs0.06 to close at Rs8.52. It was followed by WorldCall Telecom with 33.3 million shares, falling Rs0.04 to close at Rs1.45 and Pervez Ahmed Consultancy with 33 million shares, gaining Rs0.25 to close at Rs3.29.
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