PSX sheds nearly 1,500 points

Market participants preferred to reduce exposure before the extended break, with selling pressure concentrated in heavyweight stocks.UBL, LUCK, ENGROH, FFC and PPL were the main drags, collectively shaving 606 points off the index.

On the flip side, PSEL, BAHL and SRVI provided limited support.Trading activity remained robust, with 1.48 billion shares changing hands against nearly 1 billion in the previous session.

The value of shares traded stood at Rs22.57 billion.

Of the 500 companies traded, 190 closed higher, 277 declined and 33 remained unchanged.At the close of trading, the KSE-100 index posted a loss of 1,493.18 points, or 0.85%, and settled at 173,886.69.Arif Habib Limited (AHL) noted that the Pakistan Stock Exchange's KSE-100 index closed at 173,886.7 after falling 1,493.2 points, or 0.85%, as profit-taking ahead of the long weekend trimmed weekly gains to 4.5%.Only 19 shares advanced while 81….

PSEL (+10%), BAHL (+0.84%) and SRVI (+1.63%) provided the main support, whereas UBL (-1.63%), LUCK (-1.7%) and ENGROH (-1.09%) were the largest drags on the benchmark.Week-to-date and month-to-date gains stood at +7,477.4 points (+4.49%), while the calendar-year-to-date performance was essentially flat at -0.10%.

Overall market capitalisation was Rs18,909.2 billion ($68.3 billion), with regular-market turnover of 1,480 million shares worth Rs22.6 billion ($81.6 million).Pakistan's October trade deficit widened to $3.9 billion, as exports rose modestly to $2.9 billion (+2.8% year-on-year) while imports climbed to $6.8 billion (+11.8% year-on-year).

Looking ahead, AHL identifies 170,000 as key support and 178,000 as resistance for the coming week.Topline's market review noted that taking cue from international markets, investors preferred to book profit before the long weekend, as the KSE-100 index declined 0.85% to close at 173,887.The top negative contribution came from UBL, LUCK, ENGROH, FFC and PPL, as they cumulatively weighed down the index by 606 points.

Traded value-wise, OGDC (Rs1.47 billion), MLCF (Rs1.09 billion), DGKC (Rs708 million) and BOP (Rs662 million) dominated the activity.Overall trading volumes were recorded at 1.48 billion shares compared with the previous session's tally of almost 1 billion.

The value of shares traded during the day was Rs22.57 billion.

Shares of 500 companies were traded.

Of these, 190 stocks closed higher, 277 fell, and 33 remained unchanged.Bawany Air (R) was the volume leader with trading in 687 million shares, losing Rs0.59 to close at Rs0.03.

It was followed by Tasdeeq Information with 141 million shares, gaining Rs0.29 to close at Rs5.03, and WorldCall Telecom with 72 million shares, gaining Rs0.08 to close at Rs1.02.

Foreign investors sold shares worth Rs481 million, the National Clearing Company reported.