ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed selling pressure on Friday as its benchmark KSE-100 Index closed lower by over 500 points.
The KSE-100 Index closed at 113,251.66 down by 532.64 points or 0.47 per cent.
The selling was observed in the energy sector with stocks of MARI, OGDC, PPL, SHEL, SNGPL, HUBCO and NRL traded in the red.
“The KSE-100 Index mirrored the trend in global markets today, reacting negatively to the news that US President Donald Trump had ordered sweeping tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada, and China,” said brokerage house Topline Securities in its post-market report.
On Friday a total of 472,078,779 shares were entertained during the day as compared to 397,393,389 shares the previous trading day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs 22.778 billion against Rs 19.327 billion on the last trading day.
As many as 444 companies transacted their shares in the stock market,119 of them registered gains, and 263 met losses, whereas the share price of 62 companies remained unchanged.
The three top trading companies were Pak International Bulk with 52,248,016 shares at Rs 9.60 per share followed by WorldCall Telecom with 43,457,950 shares at Rs 1.41 per share and National Bank XD settled with 28,271,548 shares at Rs 80.01 per share.
Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited recorded a maximum increase of Rs 72.99 per share closing at Rs 9,373.66 whereas Khyber Tobacco Company Limited was the runner-up with Rs 27.46 rise in its share price to close at Rs 302.01.
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Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited witnessed a maximum decline of Rs 369.49 per share price, closing at Rs 23,030.50, whereas the runner-up was PIA Holding Company LimitedB with a drop of Rs 78.41 in its per share price to Rs 805.88.
On Thursday, the PSX closed lower for the second consecutive day, driven primarily by profit-taking in key sectors. The benchmark KSE-100 Index decreased by 78.02 points or 0.07%, closing at 113,784.31.
Internationally, equities slumped in Asia on Friday and the US dollar hovered near multi-week highs against the currencies of the country’s top trading partners as concerns about an escalating global trade war soured market sentiment.
