DAILY MARKET WRAP

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued to extend losses on Wednesday. Indices traded in red for most part of the day while volumes contracted from last close. As per analysts, rising political unrest due to nationwide protests that erupted as a response to the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, caused bears to run amok.

Equity markets around the globe showed mixed trend. Crude oil prices moved south with WTI crude oil price falling by 1.19% to $72.83. While Brent crude oil was down by 1.15% to $76.55. (As at 3:53 PM PST, Source: Investing.com).

On the economic front, as per data released the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), remittances sent home by overseas Pakistanis fell by 29.25% YoY to US$ 2,210.62 mn. On MoM basis, a decline of 12.71% was recorded.

Clenching 33.28 pts, the benchmark KSE 100 index recorded intraday high of 41,407.09. It then plunged to day’s low of 41,041.32 falling by 332.49 pts. The index settled lower by 298.86 pts at 41,074.95. The KMI 30 index slipped by 510.34 pts closing at 70,382.12. While the KSE All share index lost 168.25 pts ending at 27,185.62.

Total traded volume shrank from 202.89 mn shares in the previous session to 99.13 mn shares. Highest participation was witnessed in Worldcall Telecom Limited (WTL -1.72%), TPL Properties Limited (TPLP -0.55%) and Bank Al Falah limited (BAFL -1.32%). The scrips had 14.28 mn shares, 6.18 mn shares and 4.03 mn shares exchanged, respectively. Out of the total scrips traded, 96 advanced, 193 declined and 257 remained unchanged.

Sectors pushing the benchmark KSE 100 index towards the red zone included, Banking sector (76.37 pts), Oil and Gas Exploration sector (63.61 pts) and Technology and Communication sector (35.20 pts). Companies that dragged the index lower consisted of, Habib Bank Limited (HBL 34.08 pts), Pakistan Services Limited (PSEL 31.68 pts) and Systems Limited (SYS 29.42 pts).

The Technology and Communication sector lost 0.95% in its cumulative market capitalization. Systems Limited (SYS 1.31%), TRG Pakistan Limited (TRG 0.31%), Avanceon Limited (AVN 1.67%) and Octopus Digital Limited (OCTOPUS 0.35%), all closed negative.

Values as at 04:09 PM PST