KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) endured another volatile trading session on Monday, as jittery investors continued to weigh the impact of domestic political turmoil and the depreciating local currency against the US dollar.
The benchmark KSE-100 index came under across-the-board selling pressure and ended the day in negative territory, once again falling below the 40,000-point mark.
On the domestic front, the political uncertainty stemming from the chief minister Punjab’s election hearing filed by the PTI dented the confidence of market players.
Moreover, the deteriorating value of the rupee against the US dollar, which fell to an all-time low at Rs229.88, sparked concerns of imported inflation and widening of the current account deficit to unsustainable levels, thus creating an atmosphere of fear at the bourse.
At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 39,844.02 points with a decrease of 233.28 points or 0.58%.
A report from Arif Habib Limited noted that the market witnessed a negative session throughout the day, due to political and economic unrest.
The benchmark KSE-100 index traded in the red zone as the rupee continued to depreciate against the US dollar. Investors’ participation remained dull as main board volumes remained dry.
Sectors contributing to the performance included banks (-110.4 points), fertiliser (-37.5 points), technology (-27.7 points), investment banks (-19.1 points), and power (-18 points).
Shares of 289 companies were traded during the session. At the close of trading, 109 scrips closed in the green, 160 in the red, and 20 remained unchanged.
Overall trading volumes plunged to 75.45 million shares compared with Friday’s tally of 171.27 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs1.83 billion.
TPL Properties was the volume leader with 9.75 million shares traded, gaining Rs0.11 to close at Rs16.98. It was followed by WorldCall Telecom Limited with 9.3 million shares traded, price remaining unchanged at Rs1.20 and Lotte Chemical Pakistan with 7.99 million shares traded, gaining Rs1.67 to close at Rs25.79.
