ISLAMABAD: Profit-taking gripped the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) after a strong start on Thursday, wiping out early gains as the benchmark KSE-100 Index ended the day with a loss of over 1,300 points.
Trading started on a positive note, with the benchmark index touching an intra-day high of 151,249.62. However, the market resorted to profit-taking, dragging the KSE-100 down to 148,272.57.
By the close of trade, the benchmark index had settled at 149,235.26, showing a decline of 1,355.74 points or 0.90%.
On Thursday, a total of 1,062,993,695 shares were traded as compared to 667,817,396 shares on the last working day, whereas the price of shares stood at PKR 55.824 billion against PKR 40.728 billion on the previous trading day.
As many as 479 companies transacted their shares in the stock market, 129 of them recorded gains and 323 met losses, whereas the share price of 27 companies remained unchanged.
The three top trading companies were Fauji Foods Limited with 62,087,443 shares at PKR 16.94 per share, followed by Pak Elektron with 57,228,568 shares at PKR 45.36 per share, whereas Telecard Limited settled with 56,939,244 shares at PKR 8.34 per share.
Service Industries Limited witnessed a maximum increase of PKR 54.75 per share price, closing at PKR 1,300.55, whereas the Indus Motor Company Limited was the runner-up with PKR 52.76 rise in its per share price to PKR 2,292.62.
Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited witnessed a maximum decline of PKR 883.72 per share, closing at PKR 31,511.11 followed by The PIA Holding Company LimitedB, with a drop of PKR 377.90 in its share price to close at PKR 27,501.00.
On Wednesday, the PSX continued its upward trajectory, with the KSE-100 Index closing at a record high of 150,591.00 points, gaining 820 points or 0.55%.
Global market trend
Globally, Asian stock markets were broadly mixed on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.6% during the morning session, retreating further from the record peak reached on Tuesday.
Despite a tech-led sell-off on Wall Street overnight, Japanese semiconductor stocks were mixed, with Advantest rising 3%, while Tokyo Electron dropped 2%.
South Korea’s KOSPI rebounded 0.9% after hitting a six-week low on Wednesday. Australia’s benchmark index rose 0.6%, reaching a new all-time high.
Mainland China’s blue-chip stocks gained 0.5%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index remained largely flat.
US stock futures were pointing lower, with Nasdaq futures down 0.2% and S&P 500 futures easing by 0.1%.
Overnight, the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.7%, while the S&P 500 index slipped 0.2%.
Market participants are currently assigning an 80% probability to a 25 basis point interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve on 17 September, with a total of 52 basis points in rate reductions expected over the remainder of the year.
