Muhammad Asad Tahir Bhawana

The Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed a mixed trend during the week ending May 19 (Friday) with the KSE-100 Index gaining points on the first, second and the last day of trading and losing points in between. The KSE-100 index recorded a net positive change of 157.11 points, or 0.38%, on Friday compared to the previous day. The Index opened with 41,442.08 points and closed at 41,599.18.

The index hit an intraday high of 41,628.78 points, and an intraday low of 41,354.33 points, with overall traded volume standing at 54,405,822 shares. However, on Thursday (May 18) the market showed a negative trend with the KSE-100 Index shedding 391.59 points to close at 41,442.08 points. The same trend continued on Wednesday (May 17) when the KSE-100 Index showed a decline of 172.59 points.

However, the stocks witnessed positive outcomes on Tuesday (May 16) and Monday (May 15). On Tuesday, the index closed with an addition of 287.82 points and on Monday, the KSE-100 Index gained 230.85 points. The best-performing top 10 sectors are shown in the chart below. (May 19).

Overall, the trading activity remained subdued as daily volumes on the ready counter on Thursday (May 18) declined to 101.318 million shares compared to 125.528 million shares traded on Wednesday (May 17). The daily traded value on the ready counter also decreased to Rs3 billion, down from the previous session's Rs3.540 billion.

Foreign investors continued to be net sellers, selling shares of $85,839. Consequently, the market capitalisation declined by Rs27 billion to Rs6.217 trillion. Out of the total 306 active scrips, 205 closed in negative territory, while only 82 closed in positive territory, with the value of 19 stocks remaining unchanged.

The volume leader was WorldCall Telecom with a total of 9.891 million shares traded. Its per share price stood at Rs1.12, showing a decrease of Rs0.01 from the previous session. Pak Refinery Limited shares gained Rs0.17 to close at Rs13.96 apiece, with a total of 7.526 million shares traded. Cnergyico inched up by Rs0.01 to close at Rs3.43 apiece with 6.661 million shares traded.

According to an analyst at Arif Habib Limited, the prevailing political instability surrounding the former prime minister's court hearings was contributing to economic downturn. He said investor participation was varied, with moderate volumes observed across the board, and third-tier equities leading the volume board.

The top 10 symbols as of Friday (May 19)

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk