KSE-100 inches down in range-bound session

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) endured a range-bound session on Monday and the KSE-100 Index retreated 0.06% as investors remained wary of economic uncertainty.

Lack of developments on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) front made the market trade in a narrow range for most part of the session.

By the end of the day, the KSE-100 Index was down 24.83 points or 0.06% at 41,716.95 level.

KSE-100 Index falls over 700 points as Pakistan, IMF fail to reach staff level agreement

Trading began with a jump and the market reported losses in early hours. The index took a U turn some time later and reported gains till late afternoon. A selling spree, in final hours, made it close in the red.

Automobile, cement and chemical sectors closed with gains while oil space ended the day in the red. On the other hand, the banking segment closed mixed.

A report from Capital Stake stated that the PSX closed a range bound session on Monday flat. Indices traded in green for most part of the day until finally closing flat.

“Volumes depreciated from precious close. Investors adopted a cautious approach due to lack of clarity on IMF’s decision. Moreover, news of upcoming mini-budget also kept investors away from the market,” the report added.

A report from Arif Habib Limited stated that “to begin off the business week, a mixed session was recorded at the PSX.”

According to it, the index opened in the red territory, continuing the previous close’s negative sentiments, but market sentiments quickly changed as the market proceeded to trade in the green for most of the day, reaching an intraday high of 249.38 points due to positive advancements in the disbursement of the 9th tranche of IMF’s Extended Fund Facility.

“Volumes remained solid across the board, but investor engagement in the exploration and production sector remained high due to the possibility of a gas tariff increase,” it said.

On the economic front, rupee registered marginal loss against the US dollar and depreciated Re0.16 or 0.06% to close at 269.44 against dollar in the inter-bank market.

Sectors driving the benchmark KSE-100 Index lower included technology and communication (70.52 points), oil and gas exploitation (53.38 points) and automobile assembler (15.61 points).

Volume on the all-share index fell to 192.4 million from 281.9 million on Friday. The value of shares dropped to Rs7.7 billion from Rs14.7 billion recorded in the previous session.

Sui Southern Gas Company was the volume leader with 22.3 million shares followed by WorldCall Telecom with 16.4 million shares and Oil and Gas Development Company with 15 million shares.

Shares of 318 companies were traded on Monday, of which 150 registered an increase, 148 recorded a fall and 20 remained unchanged.