KARACHI: Bears ran amok on the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Monday bec­ause of continued political and economic instability.

Arif Habib Ltd said the news about TRG Pakistan Ltd entangled in judicial proceedings further escalated the bearish sentiments on the bourse. However, investors turned to value-hunting in the exploration and production sector as they expected a resolution of the gas-sector circular debt.

Topline Securities said share prices dipped on the back of no announcement regarding the materialisation of fresh funds from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates or any other friendly country before the close of trading.

The bearish trend is expected to continue, warned JS Global, recommending that investors should consider the downside as a buying opportunity in the IT sector.

As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 40,504.76 points, down 502.76 points or 1.23 per cent from the preceding session.

The overall trading volume decreased 9.9pc to 163.9 million shares. The traded value went up 1.3pc to $30.3m on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Pakistan Refinery Ltd (17.5m shares), Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (13.9m shares), Cnergyico PK Ltd (12.3m shares), WorldCall Telecom Ltd (10.2m shares) and TRG Pakistan Ltd (9.8m shares).

Sectors contributing the most to the index performance were commercial banking (-162.8 points), technology and communication (-105.3 points), cement (-74.2 points), fertiliser (-73.1 points) and power generation and distribution (-36 points).

Companies registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Nestle Pakistan Ltd (Rs199.90), Pakistan Engineering Company Ltd (Rs23.20), Shield Corporation Ltd (Rs18.14), the Thal Industries Corporation Ltd (Rs16.37) and Reliance Cotton Spin­ning Mills Ltd (Rs15.50).

Companies that recorded the biggest declines in their share prices in absolute terms were Bata Pakistan Ltd (Rs96.79), Premium Textile Mills Ltd (Rs49.42), Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan Ltd (Rs39.99), Mari Petroleum Company Ltd (Rs25.95) and Highnoon Laboratories Ltd (Rs24.19).

Foreign investors were net buyers as they purchased shares worth $0.51m.

Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2023