ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a bearish trend on Thursday after two days of gains, losing 715.18 points to close at 122,046.46 points, which a financial analyst attributed to profit-taking driven by fiscal year-end considerations.
The PSX closed at 122,046.46 points when trading ended on Thursday, witnessing a negative change of 0.58 percent. The KSE-100 had closed at 122,761.64 points on Wednesday and before that on Tuesday, it surged by 6,079 points or 5.23 percent to close at 122,246 points. Analysts attributed the surge on Tuesday to the ceasefire announcement between Iran and Israel.
As many as 473 companies transacted their shares in the stock market on Thursday, with 200 of them recording gains and 237 sustaining losses, state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said, adding that the share price of 36 companies remained unchanged.
“After two consecutive sessions of strong gains, the local bourse witnessed a round of profit-taking today, driven by fiscal year-end considerations and short-term portfolio rebalancing,” Maaz Mulla, the vice president of equity sales at Topline Securities Limited, said in a statement.
Mulla said the benchmark KSE-100 index saw a “volatile ride“— climbing 656 points intraday before losing 715 points at close of business. He said the closing figure of 122,046 points reflected “a cautious investor mood” as the quarter draws to a close.
He said despite the decline at the end of the day, the overall market activity remained “vibrant.”
“Total traded volume clocked in at 750 million shares, with a traded value of PKR 29.8 billion,” Mulla said.
APP reported that the three top trading companies on Thursday were Pak Int. Bulk with 37,503,501 shares traded at Rs 8.52 per share, WorldCall Telecom with 33,285,442 shares at Rs 1.45 per share and Pervez Ahmed Co. with 32,962,174 shares at Rs 3.29 per share.
