RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed Friday’s session in negative territory as profit-taking activity erased early gains, despite the benchmark index touching a fresh intraday all-time high during the morning trade. The KSE-100 Index declined 556.16 points, or 0.32 percent, to close at 171,404.49, compared with the previous close of 171,960.65. During the session, the index climbed to an intraday high of 172,674.65 before retreating to a low of 171,149.07, reflecting a sharp reversal in sentiment during the latter half of the trading day.

Performance on the BR indices remained weak. The BRIndex100 closed at 18,185.87, down 102.72 points, or 0.56 percent, with a total traded volume of 545.04 million shares. Meanwhile, the BRIndex30 settled at 58,588.02, falling 554.97 points, or 0.94 percent, on a volume of 321.88 million shares.

Commenting on the session, Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Limited, said the market experienced profit-taking as it headed into the roll-over week. He further stated that trading unfolded in two distinct phases. During the morning session, the market extended yesterday’s bullish momentum and recorded a fresh intraday all-time high of 172,675 points. However, sentiment reversed in the afternoon as investors opted to square off weekly positions, which weighed on the index and resulted in a negative close.

Market breadth reflected bearish sentiment. In the ready market, 260 companies closed lower, 179 advanced, and 46 remained unchanged, out of 485 traded scrips.

Trading activity declined from the previous session. Ready-market volume fell to 797.53 million shares from 950.15 million shares, while traded value dropped to Rs42.22 billion from Rs54.07 billion. The overall market capitalization slipped to Rs19.46 trillion, compared with Rs19.50 trillion a day earlier.

Despite the overall decline, sectoral performance remained mixed. The BR Automobile Assembler Index closed at 23,991.11, down 56.41 points, or 0.23 percent, on a turnover of 1.42 million shares. The BR Cement Index edged up 1.18 points, or 0.01 percent, to 14,192.60, with 50.45 million shares traded.

The BR Commercial Banks Index fell 227.80 points, or 0.44 percent, to 51,443.75, on a turnover of 80.69 million shares, while the BR Power Generation and Distribution Index rose 209.59 points, or 0.77 percent, to close at 27,553.21, supported by a strong turnover of 184.51 million shares.

The BR Oil and Gas Index declined 23.60 points, or 0.16 percent, while the BR Technology and Communication Index inched up 2.91 points, or 0.07 percent.

Active participation was seen in select stocks. K-Electric Limited topped the volume chart with 116.03 million shares, closing at Rs5.85. Other heavily traded stocks included Bank Makramah, Crescent Star Insurance, Hum Network, Nishat Chunian Power, Pace (Pakistan) Limited, and WorldCall Telecom, reflecting selective interest in power, media and insurance sectors.

On the price movers’ list, Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited recorded the highest gain, rising Rs984.02 to close at Rs11,211.27, while PIA Holding Company Limited (B) advanced Rs135.50 to close at Rs 23,135.50. On the downside, Hoechst Pakistan Limited and Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited posted notable declines of Rs185.15 and Rs 143.00 respectively.

Looking ahead, Najib cautioned that volatility may persist in the coming sessions. “With the roll-over scheduled for next week, the market is likely to face some selling pressure along with increased volatility, as is typically observed during this period each month. The 170,000-point level remains a key support to sustain the prevailing bullish momentum; a decisive break below this level could trigger a renewed phase of consolidation in the KSE-100 Index,” he added.

Analysts argue that overall, Friday’s session reflected a shift from early optimism to caution, as investors locked in gains near record levels ahead of the upcoming roll-over period.