Pakistan stock market endures selling pressure

KARACHI: Pakistan stocks endured selling pressure throughout the trading day on Monday, as the future of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) ninth review and programme was again subject to uncertainty after, contrary to the expectations, the IMF’s delegation did not arrive in Pakistan, analysts said.

“Meanwhile, Pakistan’s finance minister is expected to meet an IMF delegation on the sidelines at the Geneva conference to discuss the outstanding issues and the IMF conditions are expected to be very tough,” an analyst at Pearl Securities said.

The KSE-100 shares Index shed 1.23 per cent, or 502.76 points, to close at 40,504.76 points. The KSE-30 shares index shed 1.11 per cent, or 168.05 points, to close at 15,012.05 points.

The All-share volume decreased 10 per cent to 164 million shares against 182 million shares traded on Friday, January 6, 2023.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said the benchmark KSE-100 Index opened in the green but bears gained control and drove the index down to 502.76 points at the close of the trading.

“The market sentiment remains negative due to the current political and economic instability, as well as the notification about TRG judicial proceedings further escalated the bearish scenario, pushing the index down by 570.70 points during intraday. However, the investors continued value hunting keeping the E&P sector in the spotlight in the expectation of the resolution of the gas circular debt.”

The volume leaders in the KSE-100 benchmark Index included Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) with a turnover of 18 million shares, Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) with 14 million shares, CNERGY with 12 million shares and TRG Pakistan with 10 million shares.

Going forward, the analysts expect the upward potential of the benchmark KSE-100 Index to be limited until uncertainty surrounding the IMF’s ninth review can be resolved.

Also Read

PSX closes lower over uncertain macroeconomics

KARACHI: The Pakistan stocks market closed lower on Wednesday as investors opted...