PSX experiences volatility as technical glitches mar trading; benchmark down 33 points
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday landed in the red after experiencing a volatile session, with the benchmark KSE-100 index plunging 33 points to close at 41,031.
The market touched a day's low of 40,928 points during the first hour of the session; it hit a day's high of 41,232 points in intraday trading.
"The market witnessed yet another day of lackluster activity, compounded due to technical problems," read a JS Global report.
Volumes remained subdued, standing at 75mn shares, it said, adding that some of the major gainers for the day were SSGC (+3.00pc), DAWH (+2.92pc) and OGDC (+2.31pc), which cumulatively contributed 78 points to the benchmark index.
On the flip side, major laggards for the day were HBL (-1.74pc), PSO (-1.46pc) and UBL (-0.72pc); cumulatively taking 72 points from the index.
According to the report, positive sentiments buoyed the textile sector, as NML (+1.08pc) and NCL (+0.72pc) closed in the green on the back of the news that government has released Rs14bn for the implementation of Phase-I of the Prime Minister's Export Incentives Package.
ATRL (-2.53pc), NRL (-2.04pc), PRL (-1.26pc) from the refinery sector, along with PSO (-1.46pc), closed negative after news this morning that the government has taken an abrupt decision not to run less-efficient power plants that run on furnace oil. The decision was taken due to prevailing smog in Punjab, the JS Global report read.
The E&P sector, however, closed higher than its previous day as crude oil prices edged higher in the global economy, marking a two-year high. PPL (+1.40pc) and OGDC (+2.31pc) were the major gainers of the mentioned sector.
Only 75.4 million shares, worth Rs4.5 billion, were traded on the broader market amidst the technical glitches. Of the 334 traded scrips, 98 gained in value, 221 declined and 15 remained unchanged.
The communication sector dominated trading with 12.7m shares traded; the power generation and distribution sector followed with almost 11m shares traded.
Volumes were led by:
PTCL: 5.6m shares traded [-1.74pc];
K-Electric Ltd: 4.7m shares traded [-1.78pc];
Sui South Gas: 4.7m shares traded [+3.00pc];
TRG Pak Ltd: 4.2m shares traded [-2.75pc];
Pak Elektron: 4.1m shares traded [-0.51pc].