KARACHI: Shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) plummeted once again on Thursday with the benchmark KSE-100 index shedding more than 320 points amid growing fears of lockdown in the wake of Omicron variant.
The benchmark index, after midday, succumbed to pressure in the wake of news that Pakistan may have detected its first COVID-19 case of the Omicron variant. Talk of a likely lockdown to be imposed in certain areas of Karachi weighed on investors’ sentiment.
Investors remained cautious throughout the trading session as the benchmark KSE 100 index recorded an intraday high of 43,996.62. However, it then fell to day’s low of 43,273.76 losing 573.11 pts amid a lack of positive triggers.
A depreciating Pakistani rupee, which broke all previous records by closing at Rs177.61 against the US dollar, and anticipation of a higher-than-expected current account deficit restricted the investors from taking fresh positions. Today, at the close, the benchmark KSE-100 index shed 328.03 points, or 0.75%, to close at 43,518.84 points.
Sectors driving the benchmark index lower included cement (126.90 points), banking (113.38 points), and pharmaceutical (26.58 points). Shares of 332 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 72 registered an increase, 237 recorded a fall, and 23 remained unchanged.
Volume decreased clocking in at 200.5 million on the all-shares index, down from 233.2 million a day ago. However, the value of shares traded improved to Rs8.75 billion on Thursday.
TRG Pakistan Limited was the volume leader with 25.73 million shares, followed by Telecard Limited with 13.28 million shares, and Hascol Petroleum at 12.54 million shares.
