Stock market slips by 49 points in mixed trading

Stock market slips by 49 points in mixed trading

KARACHI: The stock market slipped by 49 points on Monday in mixed trading activities during the day.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 45,605 points as against 45,654 points showing a decline of 49 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the benchmark KSE-100 index crossed another milestone of 46,000 today by posting a total increase of 455 points, however, profit booking eroded all the gains and the index saw decline of 49 points as well.

International crude oil prices remained range bound that caused the lackluster activity in E&P stocks.

Similarly, profit booking in Banks and O&GMCs contributed to the attrition in Index.

Fertilizer sector stocks inched up on the expectation of an increase in Urea prices, however, profit booking kept the rise in check.

During the session, SBP Governor hinted successful resumption of IMF program that helped built positive investor sentiment.

Among scrips, SILK topped the volumes with 69.9 million shares, followed by HUMNL (63.9 million) and BYCO (61.5 million).

Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (-49 points), Technology (-24 points), Textile (-20 points), E&P (-14 points), Power (+50 points), Pharma (+45 points) and Chemical (+14 points).

Volumes declined from 696.4 million shares to 588.0 million shares (-16 percent DoD). Average traded value also dipped by 18 percent to reach US$ 110.6 million as against US$ 135.1 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include SILK, HUMNL, BYCO, BOP and PRL, which formed 41 percent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed positively to the index include SEARL (+44 points), KAPCO (+31 points), COLG (+24 points), HUBC (+18 points) and BAHL (+11 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include UBL (-26 points), MEBL (-22 points), PPL (-17 points), TRG (-15 points) and MCB (-13 points).