KSE-100 ends session on a flat note

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed another volatile session on Wednesday, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index ended the day flat, while both the volume and value of shares traded improved from the last close.

Trading began on a positive note, with the benchmark index reaching an intra-day high of 39,904.75, up by 240 points during the initial hours. Investors rejoiced after the central bank raised its policy rate by only 1%, lower than market expectation, which was anticipating a rate hike of around 1.5% to 2%.

By the end of the day, the KSE-100 Index settled with an increase of 29.89 points or 0.08% to close at 39,717.15.

After markets closed on Tuesday, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had hiked up the policy rate by 100 basis points (bps) to an all-time high level of 21%.

“The KSE-100 index opened in the green following much-needed clarity on the Monetary Policy Statement, with a 100bps point increase in the interest rate surprising investors and boosting their confidence as the bourse continued to trade positively throughout the trading session," said a report by Arif Habib Limited.

“Although investor's participation remained sluggish owing to the ongoing political noise in the country,” the report added.

Volumes remained low, while selling pressure in the final hours pulled the market downwards.

Mixed activity was witnessed in the index-heavy sectors including automobile, cement, chemical, banking and oil.

KSE-100 falls 0.51% in rollercoaster session

Volume in the main board remained dry while third-tier companies continued to dominate the volume board, it added.

On the economic front, rupee touched another all-time low in inter-bank market and closed at 287.85 against the US dollar following a depreciation of Re0.56 or 0.2%.

Sectors driving the benchmark index upwards included, miscellaneous (17.40 points), chemical (9.68 points) and power generation and distribution sector (7.69 points).

Volume on the all-share index increased to 86.7 million from 83.3 million on Tuesday while the value of shares traded surged to Rs2.4 billion from Rs2.4 billion recorded in the previous session.

Silk Bank Limited was the volume leader with 11 million shares followed by WorldCall Telecom with 5.7 million shares and Telecard Limited with 5.3 million shares.

Shares of 306 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 136 registered an increase, 140 recorded a fall and 30 remained unchanged.