KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a gloomy session on Monday as the benchmark index remained in red for most of the session amid rumours about an imminent policy rate hike which triggered profit-selling by some investors.

This strategic choice by investors not only prompted the market to relinquish some of its previously accrued value but also culminated in the index transitioning into unfavourable terrain, noted Topline Securities in its daily market report.

The benchmark KSE 100 index witnessed an intraday low at 47,399.28 and a high at 47,733.51. The KSE-100 index, however, settled at 47,478.61 points, down 192.61 points or 0.40pc from the preceding session.

Prominent contributors to the downward movement of the index included Oil and Gas Development Company, Pakistan Petroleum Ltd, Lucky Cement, TRG Pakistan, and Hub Power Company. Collectively, these entities accounted for a decline of 139.71 points.

However, a counterbalancing effect was observed from Habib Metropolitan Bank, Pakistan Oilfields Ltd and Kot Addu Power Company, which collectively contributed a gain of 66 points.

The trading session saw a total volume of 184.18 million shares changing hands, with a cumulative value of Rs6.4 billion.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included K-Electric (19.23m shares), Bank­Islami (16.6m shares), Kohinoor Textile (10.48m shares), WorldCall Tele­com (10.4m shares) and Nishat Chunian (8.2m shares).

Companies registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Pakistan Tobacco (Rs24.75), Al-Ab­bas Sugar (Rs18.50), Paki­stan International Con­t­ainer Terminal (Rs6.11), Services Industries (Rs4.85) and National Refinery (Rs4.81).

Companies that recor­ded the biggest declines in their share prices in absolute terms were Rafhan Maize (Rs75), Sanofi Aventis(Rs56.69), Bata Pakistan (Rs31), Pakistan Services Ltd (Rs24.89) and Exide Pakistan (Rs23.94).

Foreign investors were net buyers as they picked shares worth $0.13m.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2023