KARACHI: Share prices fell sharply in the second half of Friday’s trading session on the stock market amid selling pressure emanating from uncertainty on monetary policy stance and the government’s plans to reduce circular debt and industrial power tariff, as a result the benchmark KSE 100 index settled below 64,000 level.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said stocks fell on pre-poll uncertainty and investor concerns for unresolved power sector circular debt, which rose to Rs2.55 trillion in the first half of FY24.

He said the uncertainty over IMF approval on the SIFC directive for the Rs1.27tr circular debt settlement plan and weak industrial earnings outlook amid surging gas tariff played a catalyst role in the bearish close.

Topline Securities Ltd said the benchmark index opened on a positive note posting an intraday high of 236 points, but pressure was observed in the second half on account of profit-taking by investors in banks ahead of the monetary policy committee meeting due on Monday.

Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd, HabibMetro Bank, Indus Motor, Allied Bank Ltd and Lucky Core Industries cumulatively added 154 points to the index. On the flip side, Mari Petroleum, Fauji Fertiliser Company, Meezan Bank, Habib Bank and Bank Alhabib Ltd lost value to weigh down on the index by 226 points.

As a result, the KSE-100 index closed at 63,813.06 points after shedding 484.94 points or 0.75 per cent from the preceding session.

The overall trading volume further dipped by 10.39pc to 412.82 million shares. The traded value also plunged by 35.89pc to Rs16.18bn on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Pakistan International Airline Corporation Ltd (66.17m shares), K-Electric (47.10m shares), Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (31.07m shares), Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (20.13m shares) and Hascol Petroleum Ltd (18.82m shares).

Shares registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Atlas Honda Ltd (Rs28.52), Indus Motor Company Ltd (Rs25.42), JS Global Capital Ltd (Rs11.64), Lucky Core Industries Ltd (Rs11.45) and JDW Sugar Mills Ltd (Rs10.00).

Companies registering the biggest decreases in their share prices in absolute terms were Unilever Pakistan Foods Ltd (Rs400.00), Mari Petroleum Ltd (Rs82.29), Ismail Industries Ltd (Rs44.89), Siemens Pakistan Ltd (Rs32.01) and Pakistan Tobacco Company Ltd (Rs25.00).

Foreign investors indulged in aggressive selling as they disposed of shares worth $10.05m.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2024