KARACHI: The stock market opened on Thursday under pressure amid inflationary concerns caused by rising energy prices in the international market, according to Arif Habib Ltd.

There was pressure on the cement sector in particular as the price of its main raw material rose in global markets. Investors were further alarmed as the trade deficit widened 82.2 per cent during the first eight months of 2021-22 to $31.9 billion. Trading on the main board remained dull while value buying was observed in the exploration and production sector in the last hour.

As a result, the KSE-100 index added only 11.6 points or 0.03pc on a day-on-day basis to close at 44,525.72 points.

The trading volume decre­ased 19.7pc to 188.7 million shares while the traded value went down 21.2pc to $41.4m on a day-on-day basis.

Sectors that contributed the highest number of points to the benchmark index included oil and gas exploration (131.61 points), power generation and distribution (21.68 points), fertiliser (13.48 points), investment banking (9.25 points) and auto (4.27 points).

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included TRG Pakistan Ltd (15.14m shares), Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (11.65m shares), Fauji Cement Company Ltd (8.87m shares), Flying Cement Company Ltd (8.85m shares) and K-Electric Ltd (7.6m shares).

Shares contributing positively to the index included Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (53.38 points), Pakistan Oilfields Ltd (40.67 points), Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (31.23 points), The Hub Power Company Ltd (25.56 points) and United Bank Ltd (14.41 points).

Stocks that took away the maximum number of points from the index included Lucky Cement Ltd (22.55 points), Systems Ltd (19.23 points), Meezan Bank Ltd (17.61 points), Pakistan State Oil Company Ltd (13.77 points) and Nestle Pakistan Ltd (11.31 points).

Stocks recording the biggest increases in percentage terms on a day-on-day basis were Standard Chartered Bank Pakistan Ltd (4.76pc), Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (3.91pc), Pakistan Oilfields Ltd (3.38pc), Dolmen City REIT (2.19pc) and Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (2.14pc).

Foreign investors were net buyers as they purchased shares worth $1.24m.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2022