Index tumbles on concerns over economic contraction

Index tumbles on concerns over economic contraction

KARACHI: The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday fell by 648 points owing to rising concerns over hike in electricity prices and contraction in economy.

The index closed at 43,829 points as against last Friday’s closing of 44,477 points, showing a decline of 648 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market tumbled again on concerns over high energy and commodity prices as well as prospects of further electricity tariff hikes that can lead to erosion of purchasing power and an economic contraction.

Increase in international oil prices failed to have a material impact on the stock prices of E&P stocks. Selling pressure was witnessed across the board, however, Technology, Cement, O&GMCs contributed to downward trend.

Among scrips, WTL led the table with 41.3 million shares, followed by TELE (13.8 million) and TREET (9.4 million).

Sectors contributing to the performance include Technology (-202 points), Cement (-121 points), Banks (-56 points), Engineering (-49 points) and O&GMCs (-36 points).

Volumes increased from 176.1 million shares to 226.6 million shares (+29 per cent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 21 per cent to reach US$ 48.4 million as against US$ 40 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include WTL, TELE, TREET, HUMNL and TRG, which formed 35 per cent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed positively to the index include PPL (+21 points), COLG (+9 points), HUBC (+8 points), ABL (+7 points) and FML (+7 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include TRG (-119 points), SYS (-68 points), LUCK (-26 points), FFC (-25 points) and UNITY (-25 points).