RECORDER REPORT
KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed the session on a negative note, with key indices retreating amid significant intraday volatility, primarily driven by rollover pressures in the market.
The KSE-100 Index, the benchmark for market performance, settled at 148,435.06 points, down 380.24 points or 0.26 percent from its previous close of 148,815.31. During the session, the index oscillated between a high of 149,453.19 and a low of 148,312.58 before ending in the red.
BRIndex100 declined by 10.62 points or 0.07 percent to close at 15,048.18 points, with a total volume of 504.89 million shares. Conversely, BRIndex30 rose 309.09 points or 0.72 percent to finish at 43,240.18 points, recording a volume of 265.83 million shares.
Topline Securities highlighted that intraday volatility reflected ongoing rollover pressures. The session saw gains in companies such as FFC, HUBC, and POL, collectively contributing 295 points to the index. However, these were offset by losses in major players including ENGROH, BAHL, MEBL, MCB, and HBL, which pulled the benchmark down by 549 points.
Total turnover in the ready market stood at 665.42 million shares, slightly lower than Monday’s 693.30 million, while traded value rose to Rs 31.54 billion from Rs 26.34 billion. Market capitalization closed at Rs 17.639 trillion, down approximately Rs 23 billion from the previous day.
Out of 479 traded companies, 196 advanced, 256 declined, and 27 remained unchanged.
The largest declines were seen in PIA Holding Company Limited B, down Rs 561.33 to Rs 26,550.77, and Bata Pakistan Limited, which fell Rs 157.17 to Rs 1,554.41. On the upside, Nestle Pakistan Limited gained Rs 121.65 to Rs 8,225.07, while Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited added Rs 61.80 to close at Rs 9,629.99.
The most active stocks by turnover were First Dawood Properties with 40.15 million shares traded at Rs 7.43, Kohinoor Spinning with 33.77 million shares at Rs 6.74, and Treet Corporation, which traded 33.12 million shares to close at Rs 24.84.
Sector indices closed mixed. The BR Automobile Assembler Index ended at 24,225.19 points, up 35.32 points with a turnover of 1.67 million. The BR Cement Index rose 100.28 points to 11,820.66 on 31.07 million shares.
The BR Commercial Banks Index fell 585.25 points to 44,384.00 with a turnover of 28.47 million, while the BR Power Generation and Distribution Index advanced 309.47 points to 22,886.19 on 47.21 million shares.
The BR Oil and Gas Index gained 31.55 points to 12,847.68 with 35.11 million shares traded. Meanwhile, the BR Technology and Communication Index slipped 5.69 points to 3,317.61, recording a turnover of 58.11 million.
Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation commented that the market closed lower amid rollover pressures in futures contracts, influenced by sluggish global equities and falling crude oil prices. Mehanti added that steady policy rates, potential industrial gas tariff hikes, and geopolitical uncertainty contributed to the negative session at the PSX.
