Pakistan equities closed Thursday on a bearish note with benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding 237 points, closing at 36,548 levels, down 0.6 percent.
The local bourse traded and remained negative making a high and a low of +73 & -276 points, respectively. The inflation rate in Pakistan eased to 8.82 percent year-on-year in April 2019 from 9.41 percent in the previous month, which was the highest level since November 2013.
An equity analyst at Next Securities said Pakistan equities fall 236.81 points on the first trading day of the month in the absence of any major market-driving news. Investors seemed to lack a compelling reason to bid stock prices higher. International oil prices extended losses below $63 a barrel as U.S. crude inventories climb to the highest since 2017 last week and production rose to a record high.
HUBC (-2.2%) was the major laggards in the Power sector. SNGP (-0.7%) and KAPCO (-0.4%) closed in the red zone. In the Auto sector PSMC (+5%) closed in the upper circuit. In the Financials HBL (-0.9%), UBL (-0.7%) MEBL (-1.9%) and MCB (-0.1%) were the major laggards. LUCK (-0.3%) and DGKC (-0.5%) closed in the red in the Cements. HUBC (-2.2%), HBL (-0.9%), UBL (-0.7%), PSO (-2.2%), MARI (-1.1%) MEBL (-1.9%) and FFC (-0.4%) were top scrip to cumulatively contributed -102 points to the negative closing.
Traded value stood at $17 million, down 46 percent and volume stood at 68 million shares, down 39 percent. Furthermore, major contribution to total market volume came from UNITY (-6.1%), FFL (-4.8%), MLCF (-0.1%), PIAA (-9.6%) and LOTCHEM (-3.2%). Danish Ladhani, an equity analyst, expects the market to remain volatile ahead and recommend investors to stay cautious in the short run ahead of IMF meet finalization.