The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed another negative session on Friday, as the KSE-100 lost 440 points to close just above 78,000.
Trading at the KSE-100 remained range-bound throughout the session as the index swayed in both directions.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 78,029.51, down by 439.82 points or 0.56%.
“Range-bound session was observed today as investors preferred to remain on sidelines before the monetary policy meeting on Monday, June 29,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.
Major positive contributions to the index came from BAHL, BAFL, UBL, HUBC and PAKT as they cumulatively contributed 216 points. On the other hand HBL, OGDC, MEBL, PSO and SYS lost value to weigh down on the index by -258 points, the report added.
On week-on-week basis, the KSE 100 declined by 1.6%.
“This decline can be attributed to increase in political noise following government’s reluctance to implement the court’s reserve seat decision in favour of opposition and measures by government to ban opposition party PTI.
“Profit-taking by investors after long consolidation period around 80,000 level was also one of the reason of pressure in market during the week,” Topline Securities said.
Another brokerage house Ismail Iqbal Securities said the index remained volatile on Friday due to the last day of rollover week.
On Thursday, the PSX witnessed a bearish trend as the KSE-100 ended the day with a loss of 928 points.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will likely cut its key interest rate again on Monday in its first policy meeting following the signing of a staff level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and a new state budget, analysts said.
Pakistan and the IMF reached an agreement for the 37-month loan program this month.
Tough measures such as raising tax on agricultural incomes and lifting electricity prices have prompted concern among poor and middle income Pakistanis grappling with rising inflation and the prospect of higher taxes.
In a stock notice on Friday, the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited reported a profit-after-tax of Rs10.56 billion during the financial year ending June 30, 2023, an increase of nearly 2%, as compared to Rs10.37 billion recorded in same period last year (SPLY).
As per the listed company’s financial statements released to the PSX, SNGPL posted an Earnings per Share (EPS) of Rs16.66 as compared to Rs16.34 in SPLY.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee registered minor improvement, appreciating 0.03% against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Friday. At close, the currency settled at 278.34, a gain of Re0.07, against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index decreased to 278.38 million from 327.28 million a session ago.
The value of shares declined to Rs11.62 billion from Rs15.28 billion in the previous session.
K-Electric Ltd was the volume leader with 15.22 million shares, followed by Sui North Gas with 14.83 million shares, and WorldCall Telecom with 14.22 million shares.
Shares of 429 companies were traded on Friday, of which 114 registered an increase, 255 recorded a fall, while 60 remained unchanged.
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