KARACHI: Bears maintained their control on the stock market for third consecutive day on Wednesday as investors remains cautious amid economic uncertainty and the absence of triggers.
The benchmark KSE 100 index at the Pakistan Stock Exchange continued its downward trajectory falling by 65.20 points, or a decrease of 0.15 percent, to close at 42,561.27 points. There was a lacklustre performance at the stock market which failed to gain any significant gains. The total volume of scripts declined to 118.312 million valued at Rs8.298 billion.
Meanwhile, the lower KSE 30 index managed to have a minuscule gain of 16.66 points to close at 19,739.37 points. The total volume of scripts was 78.89 million. The share prices of several companies declined notably OGDC (-3.37%), Unity Foods (-3.91%), MERIT (-7.57%), TRG (-2.06%), PIA (-5.41%) and K-Electric (0.69%). There was increased investment in the textile and cotton mills sector.
There has been political uncertainty as crucial meeting is underway in Beijing of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to review Pakistan’s progress to be removed from the grey list. Many were cautious as Prime Minister Imran Khan met US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Many investors are anticipating the new monetary policy in which key interest rates are expected to fall.
The stock market continues to have a disappointing week as the index also lost the 43,000 mark on Monday, plunging by over 420 points as the selling pressure persisted. The stock also dipped by 121 points yesterday as investors remained cautious over lack of economic triggers and rumours of political uncertainty.
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