DAILY MARKET WRAP

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) experienced a turbulent session on Thursday. Although indices initially rose, they gradually declined as the day progressed, and trading volume also reduced compared to the prior session.

Global equity markets presented a mixed trend, and crude oil prices rose, with WTI crude up by 0.20% to $68.75, and Brent crude climbing by 0.21% to $72.31 (as of 3:55 PM PST, Source: Investing.com).

The benchmark KSE-100 index briefly gained 413.66 pts reaching an intraday high of 90,700.23. However, bearish sentiment soon took over pulling the index down to a low of 89,063.34 marking a decrease of 1,223.23 pts. The session closed with the index down 1,319.80 pts (a 1.46% drop) ending at 88,966.77. The KMI-30 index saw a sharp decline of 2,427.41 pts finishing at 133,711.50, while the KSE All Share index fell by 728.65 pts to close at 56,913.70.

Market participation declined, with trading volume dropping from 613.11 mn shares in the previous session to 545.86 mn shares. K-Electric Limited (KEL +4.23%), The Bank of Punjab (BOP +5.24%), and Worldcall Telecom Limited (WTL -1.61%) saw the highest trading activity. The scrips had 73.62 mn shares, 42.67 mn shares and 25.89 mn shares, traded respectively.

Key sectors contributing to the downturn in the KSE-100 index included the Banking sector (losing 564.53 pts), Fertilizer (down 221.00 pts) and Cement (down 154.55 pts). Notably, MCB Bank Limited (MCB, down 138.51 pts), Habib Bank Limited (HBL, down 118.40 pts) and Meezan Bank Limited (MEBL, down 103.18 pts) emerged as the primary negative contributors to the index’s overall decline.

The Banking sector lost 2.62% in its cumulative market capitalization. Meean Bank Limited (MEBL -2.97%), UBL Bank Limited (UBL -1.11%), MCB Bank Limited (MCB -4.05%) and Standard Chartered Bank (Pak) Limited (SCBPL -4.33%), all closed in negative territory.

Values as at 04:15