RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed severe pressure on the first day of the week due to heavy selling from both local and foreign investors in almost all sectors.

BRIndex100 lost 119.93 points or 2.79 percent to close at 4,175.28 points on Monday. During the session, the BRIndex-100 touched an intraday high of 4,299.57 and an intraday low of 4,150.20 points. Total volumes stood at 109.818 million shares.

BRIndex30 declined by 745.5 points or 3.48 percent to close at 20,669.08 points with total turnover of 77.009 million shares.

Pakistan’s benchmark KSE-100 index plunged by 995.66 points or 2.47 percent and closed at 39,288.48 points. Due to selling pressure, daily trading volumes increased to 123.582 million shares as compared to 103.893 million shares traded on previous session.

The foreign investors remained net sellers of shares worth $1.0 million. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 177 billion to Rs 8.181 trillion. Out of total 334 active scrips, 286 closed in negative and only 30 in positive while the value of 18 stocks remained unchanged.

K-Electric was the volume leader with 11.927 million shares however lost Re 0.30 to close at Rs 5.28 followed by Bank of Punjab that decreased by Re 0.54 to close at Rs 11.12 with 8.445 million shares. Sapphire Textile and Atlas Battery were the top gainers increasing by Rs 18.63 and Rs 16.12 respectively to close at Rs 1000.00 and Rs 424.15 while Indus Motor Co and Pak Tobacco were the top losers declining by Rs 59.34 and Rs 52.50 respectively to close at Rs 1276.35 and Rs 2200.00.

BR Commercial Banks Index declined by 198.91 points or 2.37 percent to close at 8,178.55 points with total turnover of 21.584 million shares.

BR Cement Index decreased by 182.93 points or 4.23 percent to close at 4,141.13 points with 11.918 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index plunged by 106.39 points or 2.08 percent to close at 5,003.61 points with 7.358 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index lost 49.23 points or 4.35 percent to close at 1,083.68 points with 6.825 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index closed at 5,680.89 points, down 171.99 points or 2.94 percent with 13.877 million shares.

Maaz Mulla at JS Global Capital said carnage was witnessed at the local bourse as the KSE-100 index lost around 996 points to close at 39,288 level. Most of the dull activity can be attributed to political uncertainty and lack of positive triggers. On the political front, ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter, Maryam Nawaz, are set to return to the country on July 13, 2018.

Cement sector closed lower on the back of increase in Richard bay coal price to $108. DGKC (down 5.0 percent), LUCK (down 3.4 percent), MLCF (down 5.0 percent) and PIOC (down 5.0 percent) were the major loser of the mentioned sector.

Uncertainty was witnessed in the banking space on the back of the news that the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered to place the names of heads of three banks on the Exit Control List (ECL) in relation to a fake bank accounts case. As a result, UBL (down 4.8 percent) closed close to its lower circuit. Other major players such as MCB (down 2.5 percent), HBL (down 2.5 percent) and BAFL (down 2.2 percent) were among the major laggards of the sector. POL (down 3.3 percent) and OGDC (down 0.7 percent) closed in the red zone as crude oil prices edged lower in the international market.