PSX begins rollover week with a loss of 444 points
Anticipation of MPC meeting, rupee depreciation, political noise took a toll at the market
August 22, 2022
- PSX falls below 43,000-point mark.
- KSE-100 index closes at 42,826.66 points.
- Shares of 329 companies were traded today.
KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) endured a volatile session on Monday — the first day of the rollover week — falling below the 43,000-point mark as market players refrained from taking fresh positions ahead of the monetary policy announcement.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) later in the day decided to keep the interest rates unchanged at 15% for the next six weeks.
Moreover, the depreciation of the Pakistani rupee — which shed Rs2 today against the US dollar — coupled with the intensifying political heat in the country took a toll on the bourse.
The ongoing political crisis in the wake of Shahbaz Gill’s arrest and cases registered against PTI Chairperson Imran Khan, and subsequent developments played on the minds of investors, who rushed to safeguard their positions.
At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 42,826.66 points with a decrease of 443.99 points or 1.03%.
A report from Arif Habib Limited noted that the market witnessed a negative session ahead of the monetary policy meeting today.
“PSX continued to remain under pressure throughout the day due to concern regarding political noise,” the brokerage house noted, adding that investors opted to remain sideways waiting for the monetary policy announcement.
Mainboard volumes remained dry whereas hefty volumes were observed in the third-tier stocks.
Sectors contributing to the performance included banks (-103.7 points), cement (-50.6 points), technology (-46.1 points), miscellaneous (-45.9 points), and exploration and production (-31.2 points).
Shares of 329 companies were traded during the session. At the close of trading, 66 scrips closed in the green, 245 in the red, and 18 remained unchanged.
Overall trading volumes plunged to 194.66 million shares compared with Friday's tally of 306.2 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs5.33 billion.
Pakistan Refinery was the volume leader with 17.52 million shares traded, losing Rs0.69 to close at Rs19.14. It was followed by K-Electric with 14.68 million shares traded, losing Rs0.08 to close at Rs3.35 and Worldcall Telecom with 12.97 million shares traded, losing Rs0.08 to close at Rs1.38.
