Karachi, July 4, 2023: Pakistan stocks witnessed a decline of 342 points on Tuesday as investors opted for profit-taking after a day of significant gains. The benchmark KSE-100 index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 43,557 points, down from the previous day’s closing of 43,899 points.
Ali Najib, an equity market analyst at Topline Securities, noted that profit-taking was observed in the Pakistan equities market as investors trimmed or switched their positions following yesterday’s historic “Bull Run.”
Initially, the KSE-100 index continued the momentum from yesterday’s buying spree during the early trading hours. This momentum pushed the benchmark index to an intraday high at 44,512 levels, representing a gain of 613 points or 1.40 percent.
However, as the day progressed, investors chose to offload some of their positions, leading to a reversal in the market’s earlier gains and pushing the index into negative territory. Consequently, the day ended at 43,557 levels, reflecting a decline of 342 points or 0.78 percent at the PSX.
Several major stocks, including ENGRO, EFERT, LUCK, POL, and HBL, contributed to the negative movement of the index by collectively losing 248 points. Conversely, HUBC, SYS, MEBL, PPL, and UBL witnessed buying interest and collectively gained 231 points.
Notably, the market experienced record volumes and value at the bourse, with 418.5 million shares (the highest since October 6, 2022) and Rs15.8 billion (the highest since August 16, 2022) traded today, respectively. PRL led the volumes chart, with 44 million shares changing hands.
As investors engaged in profit-taking activities and adjusted their positions, the market experienced a decline in overall sentiment. Market participants will continue to closely monitor the market dynamics and assess the impact of recent developments on future trading sessions.
