KARACHI - Bearish activities prevailed in the Pakistan Stock Exchange on third consecutive day on Thursday, with PSX benchmark 100-index shedding another 324.05 points to close at 31,820.54 points. The index has lost 885 points in three days.
Traded volume decreased by 33% to 112 million shares as compared to 168m shares of Wednesday, while traded value decreased by 25% to Rs7b from 9.3b.
Local bourse declined due to falling global equity markets & continuous heavy foreign outflows. Falling international oil prices forced investors to book profits in exploration companies. PPL & OGDC closed 2% & 2.4% down, stated dealers at Topline brokerage.
FEROZ closed at its 5% lower limit, after the announcement of price reduction of one of its key product.
Even though auto sector is showing growth, listed auto assemblers remained under pressure as investors feared of lower margins due to strengthening of Japanese YEN. PSMC decreased by 4%, HCAR fell by 3.6% and INDU lost 0.8%, the analysts said. Stocks closed bearish amid selling in oil scrips and global equities sell-off after crude oil slipped below $27/barrel, observed analyst Ahsan Mehanti.
Uncertainty in global equities played a catalyst role in the bearish close in the earnings season ignoring upbeat car sales data for Jul-Jan’16 and strong earnings announced in banking and cement stocks, market watchers added.