KARACHI: Bears dominated the stock market yet again on Thursday as investors remained concerned about the rising number of Covid-19 cases in addition to higher international energy prices, said Arif Habib Ltd.
Trading activity on the main board remained gloomy while hefty volumes were witnessed in third-tier stocks. Short-sellers entered the fray during the last trading hour to square off their positions, resulting in across-the-board buying.
As a result, the benchmark index lost 7.46 points or 0.02 per cent from a day ago to close at 44,825.97 points.
Market participation increased 7.3pc to 254.2 million shares while the value of traded shares went down 10.7pc to $43.8m.
Sectors taking away the highest number of points from the benchmark index included technology and communication (83.11 points), fertiliser (22.75 points), investment banking (17.81 points), commercial banking (9.55 points) and refinery (7.24 points).
Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included WorldCall Telecom Ltd (27.94m shares), Cnergyico PK Ltd (18.84m shares), Ghani Global Holdings Ltd (17.5m shares), TeleCard Ltd (16.2m shares) and K-Electric Ltd (11.4m shares).
Shares contributing positively to the index included Kot Addu Power Company Ltd (22.79 points), Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (14.81 points), Maple Leaf Cement Factory Ltd (14.8 points), Avanceon Ltd (14.69 points) and Bank AL Habib Ltd (13.08 points).
Stocks that took away the maximum number of points from the index included TRG Pakistan Ltd (86.82 points), MCB Bank Ltd (16.62 points), Engro Corporation Ltd (11.09 points), Dawood Hercules Corporation Ltd (10 points) and Systems Ltd (8.98 points).
Stocks recording the biggest declines in percentage terms included TRG Pakistan Ltd, which went down 7.49pc, closely followed by Jahangir Siddiqui and Company Ltd (7.49pc), Azgard Nine Ltd (3.79pc), Feroze1888 Mills Ltd (2.82pc) and Lotte Chemical Pakistan Ltd (2pc).
Foreign investors were net sellers as they offloaded securities worth $0.24m.
Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2022
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