KARACHI: The stock market witnessed nominal decline of 7 points on Wednesday in narrow range trading activities.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 34,401 points as against 34,408 points showing a decline of 7 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market traded in a narrow range today gaining +250 points during the session and retreating all gains by the end of session, closing -7 points.
Banking sector continued the ascent today, although profit booking was also witnessed.
Fertilizer sector fell back on the news of no decision by the Government for granting subsidy on Fertilizer products, which brought down the Fertilizer sector across the board.
Pharma, Cement and Steel Sectors largely remained red throughout the session. E&P sector benefited slightly from an increase in international crude oil prices, whereby OGDC and PPL showed price gains during the session.
Banking sector led the volumes again with 20.4 million shares, followed by Technology (18.6 million) and E&P (11.5 million). Among scrips, TRG realized trading volume of 7.7 million shares, followed by PAEL (7.4 million) and PPL (6.9 million).
Sectors contributing to the performance include Power (+21 points), E&P (+20 points), Textile (+15 points), Fertilizer (-31 points), Cement (-18 points), Pharma (-17 points).
Volumes declined from 221.8 million shares to 130.0 million shares (-42 percent DoD). Average traded value also declined by 21 percent to reach US$ 41.5 million as against US$ 52.2 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include TRG, PAEL, PPL, HASCOL and MLCF, which formed 25 percent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively to the index include HUBC (+22 points), BAFL (+15 points), POL (+13 points), PPL (+8 points) and PAKT (+8 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include ENGRO (-20 points), HBL (-18 points), DAWH (-13 points), NBP (-13 points), and AICL (-9 points).
