The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) extended losses from the previous session, as the benchmark KSE-100 fell 0.48% after range-bound trading, while both volume and value of shares traded declined on a day-to-day basis.
The indices remained in the red for the entire trading session, as the benchmark index lost 248 points to hit an intra-day low of 43,232.
At close, the KSE-100 index settled with a loss of 210.85 points or 0.48% at 43,270.65. On a weekly basis, the KSE-100 Index gained 0.96%.
KSE-100 loses 0.45% in topsy-turvy session
A report from Topline Securities stated the market remained range bound throughout the day as investors opted for profit taking.
“Investor participation in the market was low, as they preferred to remain on the sidelines before the monetary policy announcement on Monday,” said the brokerage house
Meanwhile, the weekly improvement could be “attributed to news that IMF has scheduled its board meeting for August 29 after getting confirmation from bilateral friends such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar for bridging the financing gap of $4 billion.”
On the economic front, the government appointed Jameel Ahmad governor of the SBP on Friday. Ahmad took over the role from Dr Murtaza Syed who had been until then fulfilling responsibilities as the acting chief.
The appointment comes ahead of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of SBP that is scheduled to meet on Monday, August 22, 2022, to decide on the policy rate.
Meanwhile, the rupee recorded a marginal gain of 30 paisas to settle at 214.65 against the US dollar after an increase of Re0.30 or 0.14% on a daily basis.
Volume on the all-share index declined to 306.2 million from 621.2 million on Thursday. On the other hand, the value of shares traded declined to Rs6.4 billion from Rs10.5 billion recorded in the previous session.
Hascol Petrol was the volume leader with 71.46 million shares, followed by Pak Refinery with 19.46 million shares, and Bank of Punjab with 19.14 million shares.
Shares of 323 companies were traded on Friday, of which 110 registered an increase, 185 recorded a fall, and 28 remained unchanged.
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