Stock market ends down by 531 points on selling pressure

Stock market ends down by 531 points on selling pressure

KARACHI: The stock exchange declined by 531 points on Wednesday as investors preferred selling in the wake of government decision to withdraw tax exemptions and increase in electricity tariff.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 43,692 points as against previous day’s close of 44,223 points, showing a decline of 531 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market continued the down trend. Anticipation of government’s withdrawal of tax exemption in the wake of IMF program, increase in electricity tariff and deferment of increase in petroleum prices have Investors selling positions across the board with pressure points in Tech, Cement, Steel and O&GMC sectors. Redemptions from Mutual funds and Insurance companies maintained the selling pressure on stocks.

Among scrips, TRG topped the volumes with 38.1 million shares, followed by UNITY (24.8 million) and GGL (19.1 million).

Sectors contributing to the performance include Technology (-130 points), Cement (-60 points), Fertilizer (-52 points), Power (-46 points) and O&GMCs (-32 points).

Volumes declined from 492.3 million shares to 363.2 million shares (-26percent DoD). Average traded value also declined by 10percent to reach US$ 134.5 million as against US$ 149.1 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include TRG, UNITY, GGL, FFBL and PRL, which formed 31percent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed positively to the index include UBL (+12 points), MEBL (+11 points), AICL (+11 points), BAHL (+10 points) and FCCL (+8 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include TRG (-76 points), SYS (-52 points), LUCK (-43 points), HUBC (-35 points) and HBL (-31 points).