DAILY MARKET WRAP

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended another volatile session on Tuesday in red. Indices swung high and low while volumes contracted from last close. Equity markets around the globe showed positive trend. Crude oil prices moved north with WTI crude oil price rising by 1.97% to $68.44. While Brent crude oil price was up by 2.26% to $73.46. (As at 3:50 PM PST, Source: Investing.com).

On the economic front, as per data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the Pakistani Rupee continued to depreciate against the US Dollar and lost 0.12% or PKR 0.3460/US$ in a single day to close at US$ 287.9730.

Moreover, the State Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee decided to keep the interest rates unchanged at 21%.

The benchmark KSE 100 index jumped to day’s high of 42,025.54 accumulating 242.61 pts. However, it failed to maintain its position above the 42,000 mark for long as it slipped to day’s low of 41,522.64 losing 260.29 pts. The index settled lower by 244.20 pts at 41,538.72. The KMI 30 index plunged by 457.94 pts settling at 71,664.92. While the KSE All share index dropped by 209.71 pts closing at 28,124.35.

Overall market volumes lowered from 179.04 mn shares in the previous session to 143.73 mn shares. Total traded value went down from Rs.5.57 bn on Monday to Rs.4.12 bn. Hascol Petroleum Limited (HASCOL +3.52%) remained the topper with 14.34 mn shares traded. Followed by TPL Properties Limited (TPLP +1.63%) and World call Telecom Limited (WTL -0.86%). The scrips had 13.49 mn shares and 12.97 mn shares exchanged, respectively.

Sectors painting the benchmark KSE 100 index in red included, Cement sector (67.37 pts), Technology and Communication sector (53.90 pts) and Fertilizer sector (47.91 pts). Companies that drove the index south included Lucky Cement Limited (LUCK 46.71 pts), Systems Limited (SYS 45.69 pts) and Engro Corporation Limited (ENGRO 23.47 pts).

The Technology and Communication sector lost 1.51% in its cumulative market capitalization. Systems Limited (SYS 2.07%), TRG Pakistan Limited (TRG 0.19%), Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTC 2.41%) and Avanceon Limited (AVN 1.30%), all closed negative.

Values as at 04:09 PM PST