KARACHI: The KSE-100 – a benchmark for market performance – plunged 574.68 points on Tuesday, as index-heavy stocks and profit-taking dragged the benchmark below the 52,000 level.
The decline comes after the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) was upgraded to the Emerging Markets status earlier in the day, with investors looking to reposition their portfolios after the addition and deletions of stocks in the MSCI Pakistan Index.
At close, the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a fall of 574.68 points or 1.1%, to end at 51,813.19.
Overall, trading volumes rose to 378 million shares compared with Monday’s tally of 352 million.
Shares of 397 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 154 stocks closed higher and 218 declined while 25 remained unchanged.
The value of shares traded during the day was Rs23.4 billion.
Engro Polymer was the volume leader with 42.4 million shares, gaining Rs0.30 to close at Rs31.48. It was followed by Dost Steels Limited with 41.7 million shares, gaining Rs0.77 to close at Rs14.97 and Dewan Farooque Motors with 20.2 million shares, gaining Rs2.60 to close at Rs54.6.
Meanwhile, 33 companies were added to the MSCI Pakistan Index with six of them forming the large-cap and 27 featuring in the small-cap index.
