KARACHI: The bears staged a comeback at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) market on Wednesday as the benchmark KSE-100 index experienced another round of battering and shed over 300 points.
Inflation concerns arising from the reversal of subsidies shattered investor confidence. Widespread uncertainty about political developments exacerbated the market’s decline.
All index-heavy sectors lost major ground and closed with marginal losses.
Earlier, trading began on a negative note and the market remained on the downtrend till the end of the session.
At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a decrease of 322.10 points, or 0.75%, to settle at 42,756.04 points.
A report from Arif Habib Limited noted that the market remained under pressure as investors remained stagnant over expectations of an adverse budget announcement.
“The benchmark KSE-100 index plunged to 354 points as selling pressure was witnessed across the board due to concerns over increasing inflation which kept the investors at bay,” the brokerage house stated.
Mainboard activities remained dull on the contrary hefty volumes were observed in the third-tier stocks.
Sectors contributing to the performance included power (-67.8 points), banks (-65.7 points), cement (-55.2 points), technology (-41.1 points) and exploration and production (-32.4 points).
Shares of 334 companies were traded during the session. At the close of trading, 98 scrips closed in the green, 207 in the red, and 29 remained unchanged.
Overall trading volumes rose to 194.39 million shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 285.34 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs5.34 billion.
Silk Bank was the volume leader with 24.62 million shares traded, losing Rs0.01 to close at Rs1.49. It was followed by Unity Foods with 14.09 million shares traded, losing Rs0.47 to close at Rs22.30 and Ghani Global Holdings with 13.49 million shares traded, losing Rs0.27 to close at Rs16.90.
The federal government has increased the prices of cooking oil and ghee, being sold at the country’s utility stores.
The prices of various brands of cooking oil and ghee have witnessed a significant increase. A notification regarding the increase in prices has also been issued, as per which the new prices will be applicable from June 1.
The notification stated that the price of ghee has been increased by Rs208 per kg, after which the ghee would be sold at Rs. 555 per kg in utility stores.
Meanwhile, the price of cooking oil has been increased by Rs213 per litre and will now be sold at Rs. 605 per litre, the notification issued Tuesday added.
However, Pakistan Vanaspati Manufacturers Association (PVMA) Secretary-General Umer Islam Khan hinted that the retail rates of ghee and cooking oil would soon come on a par with USC prices. –Agencies
He said ghee/cooking oil manufacturers have stopped giving the products on credit to the USC as the corporation had not cleared outstanding Rs2-3 billion to the manufacturers.
Mr Umer said the Prime Minister Task Force Committee on Supply of Palm Oil comprising officials of relevant ministries and PVMA office-bearers has been holding daily zoom meetings to analyse the demand and supply situation of palm oil.
He said around 160,000 tonnes of palm oil stocks are available at the twin ports of Karachi which are sufficient for three weeks of consumption. Despite the lifting of an export ban by Indonesia on palm oil on May 23, not a single loaded vessel had been on the high seas or at Indonesia port for shipments to Pakistan.
However, the PVMA had requested the government to remove 2pc additional customs duty on the import of palm oil from Malaysia to offset the high cost of Malaysian palm oil which is costlier by 15-20pc compared to Indonesia’s.
Around 87pc of Pakistan’s total palm oil imports originates from Indonesia and the rest is met from Malaysia.
