The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 closed nearly flat on Monday as the index swayed both ways ahead of the monetary policy announcement.
The KSE-100 started the trading session positive as it hit an intra-day high of 65,148.36. However, the index soon began to slump gradually as investors chose to book profits.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 64,890.51, up by only 74.04 points or 0.11%.
However, both volume and value of shares traded declined on a day-to-day basis.
In a key development, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday kept the key policy rate unchanged at 22%, its sixth successive decision to maintain the status quo.
“In approaching the decision, the MPC noted that inflation, in line with earlier expectations, has begun to decline noticeably from H2-FY24.
“It, however, observed that despite the sharp deceleration in February, the level of inflation remains high and its outlook is susceptible to risks amidst elevated inflation expectations. This warrants a cautious approach and requires continuity of the current monetary stance to bring inflation down to the target range of 5–7% by September 2025,” its statement read.
On Friday, the KSE-100 had closed nearly 250 points lower as investors had been uncertain over the decision on the policy rate.
It may be noted that the International Monetary Fund and Pakistan last week kick-started talks on the second and last review of Pakistan’s ongoing $3 billion bailout programme.
Pakistan is to receive $1.1 billion as the last tranche of the nine-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA), provided a successful review by the IMF.
The inflow from the Bretton Woods institution will prove to be a positive indicator for the country’s ailing economy.
Meanwhile, the rupee registered marginal improvement against the US dollar, appreciating 0.04% in the inter-bank market on Monday. At close, the local unit settled at 278.63, up by Re0.11 against the greenback, as per the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
Volume on the all-share index decreased to 211.75 million from Rs259.37 million a session ago.
The value of shares declined to Rs7.78 billion from Rs10.12 billion in the previous session.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 16.60 million shares, followed by Hascol Petrol with 16.26 million shares, and Telecard Limited with 14.67 million shares.
Shares of 328 companies were traded on Monday, of which 145 registered an increase, 158 recorded a fall, while 25 remained unchanged.
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