The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) opened the rollover week on a turbulent note on Monday as profit-taking and cautious sentiment drove the benchmark KSE-100 index from the intra-day high of 586 points to the low of 735 points.
It closed the day at 148,815.31, representing a decrease of 677.75 points, or 0.45%. Banking and cement stocks weighed heavily on the index’s performance.
In its market review, Topline Securities commented that the local bourse kicked off the rollover week on a volatile note, with a glimpse of profit-taking weighing on sentiment.
The benchmark index oscillated sharply, hitting the intra-day high of 586 points before slipping to the low of 735 points. It eventually closed at 148,815, down 678 points, as investors booked gains amid cautious trading.
On the sectoral front, Bank Alfalah, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), The Searle Company and Pakistan Aluminium Beverage Cans lent support with a cumulative contribution of +92 points.
However, the losses borne by Bank AL Habib, Systems Limited, Meezan Bank, Habib Bank Limited and Lucky Cement dragged the index lower by 394 points, added Topline.
In terms of traded value, NBP (Rs2.15 billion), The Searle Company (Rs2.06 billion), Pakistan State Oil (Rs1.26 billion), Oil and Gas Development Company (Rs665.43 million) and Meezan Bank (Rs592.27 million) dominated the board, noted the brokerage house.
Overall trading volumes decreased to 693.3 million shares compared with Friday’s tally of 802 million. Traded value fell to Rs26.3 billion as compared to Rs40.5 billion in the previous session.
Shares of 479 companies were traded. Of these, 204 stocks closed higher, 246 dropped and 29 remained unchanged. Kohinoor Spinning Mills was the volume leader with trading in 113.9 million shares, gaining Rs0.59 to close at Rs7.07.
