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Stocks drift lower ahead of long closure
KARACHI: Trading on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) remained dull on Thursday amid a sideways movement in share prices along with low volumes.
Topline Securities said some selling took place in the last hours of the trading session as investors preferred to reduce their holdings ahead of the long weekend.
According to Arif Habib Ltd, the lacklustre performance by listed companies in the last session before the extended weekend resulted in a week-on-week drop of 0.4 per cent in the benchmark.
Key developments that took place during the trading session included announcements by Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd and Pakistan Petroleum Ltd that they’re seeking foreign investors for the Reko Diq project, the brokerage said.
The rupee remained one of the best performers among global currencies in September by gaining 6pc against the dollar.
As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 46,232.59 points, down 132.45 points or 0.29pc from the preceding session.
The overall trading volume remained flat at 177.6 million shares. The traded value also registered little change on a day-on-day basis and clocked in at Rs6.9 billion.
Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (10.8m shares), WorldCall Telecom Ltd (9.6m shares), Agritech Ltd (9.5m shares), Fauji Foods Ltd (6.5m shares) and Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Ltd (6.3m shares).
Companies registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were JDW Sugar Mills Ltd (Rs24), Highnoon Laboratories Ltd (Rs12.66), Pakistan Oilfields Ltd (Rs10.27), Archroma Pakistan Ltd (Rs10) and Mehmood Textile Mills Ltd (Rs9.50).
Companies that recorded the biggest declines in their share prices in absolute terms were Nestle Pakistan Ltd (Rs42.79), Ismail Industries Ltd (Rs40.69), Systems Ltd (Rs17.32), Premium Textile Mills Ltd (Rs14.84) and Siemens Pakistan Engineering Ltd (Rs10.21).
Foreign investors were net buyers as they purchased shares worth $0.23m.
Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2023
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