KARACHI: After posting modest gains overnight, Pakistani shares on Wednesday faltered below the 75,000 level on late selling as investors reacted to a downturn in dollar inflows, which depicted a weak economic outlook.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said the National Accounts Comm­ittee’s projection of a subdued economic growth of 2.38pc amid average 26pc inflation for outgoing FY24, a 6pc decline in inflows via Roshan Digital Account (RDA) in April, weak rupee and uncertainty over the outcome of negotiations over CPEC dues to China were the factors that triggered profit-taking.

Topline Securities Ltd said Pakistan equities beg­an trading positively aro­u­nd the psychological barrier of 75,000 for most of the session. However, an inexplicable selling spree in the last hour forced the KSE 100 index to close below this level.

The market’s confoun­ded behaviour can be ascr­ibed to the absence of any positive trigger that could assist it in maintaining its northbound journey.

Vibes from ongoing negotiations with the IMF and anticipation of further austerity measures in the upco­ming budget kept investors at bay, and they opted to take some profits, observed Topline Securities Ltd.

Consequently, banks, fer­t­iliser, technology and auto sectors contributed neg­a­tively where MCB Bank, En­g­ro Corporation, Thal Ltd, Bank Al-Habib and TRG Pakistan lost 185 poi­nts. On the contrary, Syst­ems Ltd, Fauji Ferti­liser and Pakgen Power Ltd cum­ulatively added 125 points.

As a result, the benchmark index hit an intraday high of 75,513.90 and a low of 74,835.49. However, the KSE 100 index settled at 74,956.67 points after losing 250.10 points or 0.33pc on a day-on-day basis.

However, the overall tra­d­ing volume increased 26.47pc to 584.48 million shares. The traded value also rose by 11.61pc to Rs17.71bn day-on-day.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Hum Netw­ork (30.91m shares), K-Ele­ctric (71.27m shares), PACE (Pakistan) (46.64m shares), K-Electric (34.48m shares), Symmetry Group (34.32m shares) and WorldCall Telecom (33.99m shares).

The shares registering the most significant incre­ases in their share prices in absolute terms were Ismail Industries (Rs71.61), Shah­murad Sugar Mills Ltd (Rs21.23), Systems Ltd (Rs13.71), Pakistan Cables (Rs11.75) and Abbott Laboratories (Rs10.47).

The companies registering the major decreases in their share prices in absolute terms were Unilever Pak (Rs139.76), Nestle Pak­i­stan Ltd (Rs121.28), Sapp­hire Fibres Ltd (Rs79.95), Thal Ltd (Rs35.81) and Pakistan Services (Rs35.11).

Foreign investors rema­ined net buyers as they purchased shares worth $0.44m.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2024