Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) recorded a choppy session on Wednesday, with the KSE-100 Index oscillating between red and green zones before closing almost flat.
Trading started with an uptick, but volatility caused the market to fluctuate within a narrow range until the close.
At the close, the benchmark index settled at 56,680.07, up slightly by 14.14 or 0.02%.
“The market witnessed another volatile session today marked by moderate profit taking,” brokerage firm Ismail Iqbal Securities said in its post-market report.
It was stated that oil and gas exploration companies, oil and gas marketing companies and chemical industries were important contributors to the session. “Commercial banks, energy and cement sectors are trading in the red zone.”
On Tuesday, KSE-100 gained 142 points despite profit taking during the session.
In a related development, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said she expected an agreement to be reached ‘within this week’ on the ongoing first review of the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA).
“I expect an agreement on the review to be reached within this week,” Georgieva said in an interview with Bloomberg TV’s Haslinda Amin on Wednesday.
These remarks came as an IMF mission led by Nathan Porter visited Pakistan for the initial review of the SBA.
The South Asian country has been operating under an interim government after an IMF loan program approved in July helped prevent a sovereign debt default. Under the $3 billion SBA, Pakistan received $1.2 billion as the first tranche from the IMF in July.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee continued its downward trend against the US dollar for the 17th consecutive session, losing 0.09% in the interbank market on Wednesday. According to the State Bank of Pakistan, the exchange rate decreased by Re 0.27 to 288.14.
The volume of the all-share index rose to 661.6 million from 526.3 million in the previous session.
The value of shares rose to Rs 24.3 billion from Rs 19.5 billion in the previous session.
WorldCall Telecom maintained its volume leadership with 70.2 million shares, followed by Pak Refinery with 37.1 million shares and Sui North Gas with 22.4 million shares.
Shares of 360 companies were traded on Wednesday; Of these, 196 increased, 147 decreased, and 17 remained unchanged.
news source (www.brecorder.com)
