KARACHI: A bearish trend prevailed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Monday with equities trading on the lower side throughout the trading session.

Topline Securities said the dollar traded at over Rs300 in both open and kerb markets while continuous uncertainty on the International Monetary Fund loan programme as well as growing noise on the political front were the likely reasons for negative sentiments.

Selling pressure was witnessed in the exploration and production sector, which could be attributed to a decline in international oil prices. Arif Habib Ltd said trading volume remained sluggish across the board, with third-tier shares leading the pack.

As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 41,195.07 points, down 404.12 points or 0.97 per cent from the preceding session.

The overall trading volume decreased 18.8pc to 97.8 million shares. The traded value went down 13pc to $10m on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included WorldCall Telecom Ltd (11.4m shares), K-Electric Ltd (9.5m shares), Air Link Communication Ltd (5.2m shares), BankIslami Pakistan Ltd (4.5m shares) and Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (4.4m shares).

Sectors contributing the most to the index performance were commercial banking (-105.4 points), exploration and production (-59.9 points), technology and communication (-44.7 points), fertiliser (-26.5 points) and power generation and distribution (-25.1 points).

Companies registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Nestle Pakistan Ltd (Rs170.42), ZIL Ltd (Rs22), Fazal Cloth Mills Ltd (Rs10.15), IGI Holdings Ltd (Rs6.92) and Macter International Ltd (Rs5.77).

Companies that recorded the biggest declines in their share prices in absolute terms were Pakistan Tobacco Company Ltd (Rs51.49), Pakistan Services Ltd (Rs29.90), Siemens Pakistan Engineering Ltd (Rs22.99), Murree Brewery Company Ltd (Rs14) and Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan Ltd (Rs10.04).

Foreign investors were net buyers as they purchased shares worth $0.58m.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2023