KARACHI: The first day of the week on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a declining trend with the benchmark index dropping 647.89 points or 1.46 per cent to close at 43,829.35 points as foreigners continued selling stocks unabated.

According to Topline Sec­urities, TRG Pakistan Ltd alone dented the KSE-100 index by 118.55 points. The stock dragged the index down as investors reacted to the news of a global tax deal that sought to end safe tax havens.

Other main reasons for the tumbling PSX included investors’ concerns about high energy and commodity prices as well as the likelihood of further electricity tariff hikes, which can lead to the erosion of purchasing power and trigger an economic contraction, according to Arif Habib Ltd.

However, the increase in international oil prices failed to have any material impact on the prices of energy exploration and production companies. Selling pressure was witnessed across the board, although technology, cement, and oil and gas marketing companies mainly contributed to the downward trend.

Among scrips, WorldCall Telecom Ltd led the table with 41.3 million shares, followed by TeleCard Ltd (13.8m shares) and Treet Corporation (9.4m shares).

Sectors contributed negatively to the PSX’s performance included technology (202 points), cement (121 points), banks (56 points), engineering (49 points) and oil and gas marketing companies (36 points).

The traded volume increased 29pc from 176.1m shares last Friday to 226.6m shares. The average traded value also increased 21pc to reach $48.4m.

Besides WorldCall Tele­com Ltd, TeleCard Ltd and Treet Corporation, stocks that contributed significantly to the traded volume included Hum Network Ltd and TRG Pakistan, forming 35pc of the total volume.

Shares that contributed positively to the index included Pakistan Petro­leum (21 points), Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan Ltd (nine points), Hub Power Company (eight points), Allied Bank Ltd (seven points) and Feroze1888 Mills Ltd (seven points).

Stocks that contributed negatively included TRG Pakis­tan (119 points), Sys­tems Ltd (68 points), Lucky Cement Ltd (26 points), Fauji Fertiliser Company (25 points) and Unity Foods (25 points).

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2021