Stock market declines by 776 points on resurgence of coronavirus

Stock market declines by 776 points on resurgence of coronavirus

KARACHI: The stock market recorded 776 points decline on Monday owing to resurgence of coronavirus and end of results season.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 39,112 points as against 39,888 points showing a decline of 776 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market continued the downtrend following end of earnings season as well as rapid spike in COVID related cases that resulted in a loss of 1109 points during the session, ending the session 776 points.

Market saw signs of intermittent recovery during the session on the pretext of SC’s decision on GIDC review case, which bodes well for Fertilizer stocks, as well as anticipation with regards Amnesty scheme.

However, selling pressure kept the Index recovery in check. Selling was observed across the board, however, brisk buying was seen in AGHA post listing, which took the stock price to upper circuit.

Among stocks, HASCOL topped the volumes with 32.4 million shares, followed by UNITY (31.1 million) and PIBTL (20.1 million).

Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (-186 points), E&P (-143 points), O&GMCs (-71 points), Cement (-58 points) and Fertilizer (-53 points).

Volumes declined from 541.8 million shares to 322.3 million shares (-41 percent DoD). Average traded value also declined by 41 percent to reach US$ 74.7 million as against US$ 127 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include HASCOL, UNITY, PIBTL, PR and POWER, which formed 36 percent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed positively to the index include DAWH (+17 points), DGKC (+5 points), UNITY (+4 points), NATF (+4 points) and IGIHL (+4 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include HBL (-69 points), OGDC (-66 points), PPL (-60 points), LUCK (-45 points) and MCB (-38 points).