KARACHI: Despite a slew of bullish triggers, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) started the rollover week on a gloomy note, as the market succumbed to selling pressure.
The confirmation of a staff-level agreement between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) failed to excite market players, who opted for a “buy-on-rumor-and-sell-on-confirmation” approach.
The State Bank’s decision to raise the benchmark policy rate by 150 basis points, which was more than market expectations, soured investor mood. As a result, the market dropped below 46,000 points.
At the closing, the benchmark KSE-100 index had fallen 744.41 points, or 1.60 percent, to 45,745.
Pakistani stocks started the week on a sour note, according to Topline Securities, after the SBP’s rise in the discount rate.
“The aforementioned increase was larger than the market forecast of 75-100 basis points,” it stated, adding that news of the IMF staff-level agreement did not help, as the KSE-100 Index hit an intraday high of 46,602 points.
During the session, 344 businesses’ shares were exchanged. 70 scrips finished in the green, 263 in the red, and 11 stayed unchanged at the conclusion of the trade.
Overall trading volume increased to 261.9 million shares, up from 304.2 million on Friday. During the day, Rs10 billion worth of shares were exchanged.p
With 22.4 million shares traded, TG Pakistan was the most active, shedding Rs7.74 to settle at Rs95.51. Byco Petroleum was next, with 21.6 million shares traded, losing Rs0.21 to settle at Rs6.83, while TPL Properties came in third with 15.8 million shares traded, losing Rs0.83 to close at Rs49.46.