Karachi: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw mixed session and KSE-100 Index rose 0.13 percent owing to mixture of upside and downside pressures. Political instability kept investors mostly on sidelines with volume on all-share index remaining subdued. At close, KSE-100 Index settled at 40,499.34, an increase of 51.29 points or 0.13 percent. Trading began with decline but market recouped losses in initial hours. From this point onward, market traded in narrow range to close with meagre gain.

Index-heavy cement, chemical, banking and oil spaces closed in green while automobile sector saw massive losses. Fertiliser segment closed mixed.

Sectors lifting benchmark KSE-100 index higher included fertiliser (68.29 points), oil and gas exploration (25.66 points) and chemical (18.34 points). Volume on all-share index jumped to 84.2 million from 67.5 million on Tuesday while value of shares traded increased to Rs 3.63 billion from Rs 2.28 billion recorded in previous session. Silk Bank was volume leader with 6.4 million shares followed by WorldCall Telecom with 5.1 million shares and Engro Corp with 4.3 million shares. Shares of 291 companies were traded of which 165 registered an increase, 104 recorded fall and 22 remained unchanged. Report from Arif Habib Limited stated, “Benchmark KSE-100 opened in red territory but traded both directions, as investors chose to be vigilant due to ongoing political uncertainty.” “Investors’ involvement remained sluggish throughout day, as volumes in mainboard dried up while 3rd tier stocks continued to dominate volume board.” Report from Capital Stake cited that PSX ended volatile session flat. Indices swayed in both directions, while volumes appreciated from last close, it said.

Published in The Daily National Courier, April, 20 2023

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