RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on second consecutive day closed lower as State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) kept status quo over key policy rate owing to persistent core inflation.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index lost 179 points or 0.16 percent to close at 114,177.66 points on Tuesday down from 114,356.34 points on Monday. The KSE-100 index witnessed a fierce tug-of-war between bulls and bears in the session. The market opened on a negative note, reacting sharply to the SBP’s decision to maintain the policy rate at 12 percent, despite a significant decline in inflation.

On Tuesday, BRIndex100 opened at 12,104.63 points and finally closed at 12,126.15 points which was 21.52 points or 0.18 percent higher than previous close. Total volume at BRIndex100 was 288.433 million shares.

BRIndex30 gained 290.62 points or 0.79 percent to settle at 36,992.27 points with a total volume of 184.866 million shares.

The daily volumes at the ready counter declined to 318.518 million shares, lower than the 324.654 million shares recorded in the previous session. Similarly, the total traded value on the ready counter rose to Rs 22.883 billion, compared to Rs 20.707 billion in the last session.

The market capitalization fell Rs 20 billion to Rs 14.065 trillion. Out of 438 active scrips, 132 closed in positive and 233 in negative while the value of 73 stocks remained unchanged.

Sui South Gas was the volume leader with 26.38 million shares and closed at Rs 37.03 followed by B O Punjab that closed at Rs 13.16 with 22.12 million shares. WorldCall Telecom ranked third with share trading of 18.11 million shares and it closed at Rs 1.33.

Macter International Limited and Premium Textile Mills Limited were the top gainers increasing by Rs 32.34 and Rs 29.90 respectively to close at Rs 355.73 and Rs 439.90, while Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited and PIA Holding Company Limited were the top losers declining by Rs 412.91 and Rs 82.23 respectively to close at Rs 23,286.00 and Rs 809.20.

Ahsan Mehanti analyst at Arif Habib Corp said that stocks closed lower amid thin trade after SBP kept status quo over key policy rate owing to persistent core inflation, price volatility, and external account pressures.

Late session support witnessed on upbeat data for $3.1bn remittances surging by 40pc YoY in Feb 2025. Global equity sell-off on US recession worries, weak rupee and uncertainty over outcome of Pak -IMF review talks played a catalyst role in bearish close, he added.

The BR Automobile Assembler Index closed at 21,425.99, reflecting a net negative change of 66.74 points or 0.31 percent with a total turnover of 2.964 million shares. The BR Cement Index dropped significantly, closing at 12,810.61, down by 127.12 points 0.98 percent and recorded a total turnover of 43.789 million shares.

The BR Commercial Banks Index lost 117.79 points or 0.38 percent to 30,679.34 points with a total turnover of 63.010 million shares. The BR Power Generation and Distribution Index closed at 18,971.62, down by 47.05 points or 0.25 percent and witnessed a total turnover of 11.32 million shares.

The BR Oil and Gas Index closed with a gain of 266.96 points or 2.29 percent, closing at 11,947.12 points with a turnover of 66.775 million shares. The BR Tech & Comm Index fell by 43.83 points or 0.89 percent to close at 4,879.50 points and recorded a turnover of 28.703 million shares.

Analysts at Topline said that SBP’s decision to maintain the policy rate at 12 dampened investor sentiment, pushing the index to an intraday low of 746 points.

However, the second half of the session saw a resurgence of buying interest. Market participants responded positively to speculation regarding the possible clearance of the longstanding circular debt. This wave of optimism propelled the index to recover and register an intraday high of 129 points.

The positive movement was primarily fueled by PSO, PPL, OGDC, MEBL, and HUBC, which together contributed 425 points to the index. Conversely, UBL, SRVI, FFC and EFERT weighed on the market, pulling the index down by 210 points.

Overall, market activity saw a total of 318 million shares traded, resulting in a turnover of Rs 22.8 billion. SSGC led the volume charts with 26 million shares exchanged.