Stock markets drops below 38,000 points over coronavirus concerns

KARACHI: The stock market continued its downward trajectory on Friday amid increasing concerns over the coronavirus, dropping below the 38,000 level during intra-day trading.

The benchmark KSE 100 index declined by 103.70 points, or a decrease of 0.27 percent, and eventually closed at 37,983.62 points. The indices reached its highest point at 38,307.07 points but declined as investors remain cautious before trading was suspended. The total volume of shares was 163.202 million valued at Rs7.732 billion.

The lower bench KSE 30 index also declined by 101.61 points (-0.58 percent) and closed at 17,477.60 points. The total volume of scripts was 99.198 billion. The  top active stocks which saw positive rise in share prices include MLCF (2.78%), Unity (0.23%), BOP (0.57%), DGKC (1.39%), FCCL (2.93%), and PIOC (-1.26%), while share prices of Hascol (-2.74%), TRG (-2.20%), ODGC (-2.38%) and FFL (-1.26%) declined.

The stock market ended the entire week on a downward trajectory over the coronavirus epidemic which has reached Pakistan and jolted global and region stock market. The Pakistan Stock Exchange declined by 251 points on Thursday. The marker received a battering a day prior when the first case of the deadly disease was confirmed losing over 1420 points.

This was augmented by a report by international credit rating agency Moody’s that termed Pakistan’s presence on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list as ‘credit negative’ on the banking sector. Investors have stayed away from the market despite partial recovery by the cement sector, followed by oil and gas marketing firms that have seen an improvement in shares trading.