Profit-Taking Continues as PSX Loses Over 1,300 Points

The 100-Index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued its bearish trend on Thursday, losing 1,319.80 points to close at 88,966.77 points as compared to 90,286.57 points on last trading day.   A total of 546,274,609 shares were traded during the day as compared to 614,564,066 shares the previous trading day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs. 24.117 billion against Rs. 27.341 billion on the last trading day.   Brokerage house Topline Securities said profit taking was observed today on the back of decline in T Bill auction yesterday and attributed it to buy on rumor and sell on news phenomena.  As many as 437 companies transacted their shares in the stock market, 137 of them recorded gains and 240 sustained losses, whereas the share price of 60 companies remained unchanged.  The three top trading companies were K-Electric Limited with 73,617,949 shares at Rs. 4.44 per share, Bank of Punjab with 42,667,349 shares at Rs. 5.82 per share and WorldCall Telecom with 25,898,091 shares at Rs. 1.22 per share.  Hoechst Pakistan Limited witnessed a maximum increase of Rs. 140.46 per share price, closing at Rs. 2,257.58, whereas the runner-up was Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited with Rs. 112.49 rise in its per share price to Rs. 19,100.00.  PIA Holding Company Limited witnessed a maximum decrease of Rs. 91.28 per share closing at Rs. 831.24 followed by Nestle Pakistan Limited with Rs. 75.73 decline to close at Rs. 6,552.02.