Today: May 2, 2024

To Contribute →

Login Register

Volatile reigns PSX, 100 Index ends day on a flat note

April 5, 2023 at 9:06 pm | Economic Affairs

April,05(A. E Report)—— Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) experiences 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%.
“Investor’s participation remained sluggish owing to the ongoing political noise in the country,” experts said. 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. 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).

Leave a Reply