PSX sheds 596 points amidst concerns of impending tax burden

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) today, Wednesday observed a downwards trend as KSE-100 index fell by 596.03 points (1.67 percent) in-turn closing at 35, 035.03 points.

A total of 113,235,730 shares were traded in the market today; the value of shares traded in the day stood at Rs 4.559 billion PKR.

Share prices of 38 companies out of 328 whose shares were up for trading observed an upwards trend while 281 companies registered a visible decline.

Nine companies of the 328 registered stable trends.

The highest ranking traders were, K-Electric Limited with a share volume of 16,775,000 and price per share of Rs 4.20, Sui Northern Gas (SNGC) with a volume of 5,729,500 shares and price per share of Rs 68.59 and Maple Leaf with a volume of 5,203,000 shares and price per share of Rs 24.37.

Colgate Palmolive registered trends with an upwards trajectory which were a visible advancement from their previous ratings registering an increase of Rs 110.09 per share, closing at Rs 2311.94 while Faisal Spinning came in a close second with an increase of Rs 12.02 per share, closing at Rs 252.55.

Companies whose stocks fell the most in today’s trends were, Rafhan Maize XD with a decrease of Rs.340 per share, closing at Rs 6510 and Philip-Morris Pakistan showing a decrease of Rs 183.50 per share closing at Rs 3486.50.

Fears of a heavy tax burden surrounding the upcoming budget and anticipation of Pakistan entering a tough International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme kept the investors under pressure to sell.