KSE-100 observes dull trading on rising COVID cases

KSE-100 observes dull trading on rising COVID cases

KARACHI: The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) observed dull trading on Monday due to alarming rise in COVID-19 cases.

The index closed at 45,612 points as against last Friday’s closing of 45,763 points, showing a decrease of 151.3 points.

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Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market continued to remain under pressure due to uptick in COVID-19 cases and higher international oil prices.

Market opened on a bleak note and stayed dull throughout the day even after passing of mini-budget by the President and recovery of PKR against dollar as investors remained risk-averse due to alarming Covid-19 numbers.

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Cement sector stayed in the red zone due to uptick in international coal prices. In the last trading hour, value buying was observed. Activity continued to remain side-ways as market witnessed hefty volumes in the 3rd tier stocks.

Sectors contributing to the performance include Technology & Communication (-100.8 points), Commercial Banks (-28.0 points), Refinery (-13.8 points), Textile Composite (-7.5 points) and Insurance (-7.3 points).

Volumes decreased from 240.0 million shares to 173.5 million shares (-27.7 per cent DoD). Traded value increased by 0.1 per cent to reach US$ 34.70 million as against US$ 34.66 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include WTL, TRG, CNERGY, ACIETF and TELE.