KARACHI

Pakistan Stock Exchange continued to witness bearish trend on third consecutive day after its launch amid concerns over rising political furor and slump in global crude oil prices.
The PSX’s benchmark KSE 100-index on Wednesday conceded another 111.48 points (down 0.3%) on the back of decline in index heavyweight oil sector stocks. The index has lost 380 points during last three successive sessions.
Pressure remained in selected scrips across the board on dismal exports data for Jul-Dec'15. Weak earnings outlook in banking, oil, and fertilizer sectors and uncertainty in global equities played a catalyst role in bearish close, stated analyst Ahsan Mehanti.
Traded volume decreased by 9% to 115m shares as compared to 127m shares of Tuesday while traded value also decreased by 12% to Rs6.7b/$64.4m.
Oil exploration companies were down as international oil prices hovered around 12-year low levels at $31/barrel. OGDC, PPL and POL declined 1.18-3.39%.
Major banking scrips, like MCB and UBL, were also down. MCB declined 0.86% while UBL was 1.24% down. Banks and E&P sector stocks together were responsible for a decline, comment Muhammad Rizwan at Topline Securities.
Market sentiment was also affected as TRG and JSCL, two of the most actively traded stocks, closed at their lower limits (down 5%). PSO gained 0.66% as ECC approved the LNG deal with Qatar.
SSGC declined 3.36% as the company informed through a notice that they have postponed their board meeting without giving a new date, analyst added.