KSE-100 closes marginally upward ahead of monetary policy announcement

The Pakistan Stock Exchange recorded a range-bound session on Monday and the KSE-100 Index inched up 0.09% as investors weighed sentiment on the monetary policy announcement that was made after the trading hours.

After the close of the market, State Bank of Pakistan Governor Jameel Ahmad notified 100bps increase in the policy rate to 17%.

Negativity at PSX: KSE-100 plunges over 1% owing to uncertainty

By the end of the session, the benchmark index closed with a gain of 35.61 points or 0.09% at 38,443.59 level.

Following a brief open in the positive zone, the market plunged in early hours. A buying spree helped the KSE-100 Index regain ground in final hours of the session.

Oil and cement spaces rallied and closed with a gain while automobile, chemical and banking sectors saw sell off. On the other hand, fertiliser space closed mixed.

A report from Arif Habib Limited stated that a range-bound session was recorded at the PSX to start off the business week.

“The market opened in the green zone but the lack of investors’ participation drove the index down into the red zone however, the market swung in both directions for most of the trading session and managed to close in green,” it said. “Investors opted to remain on the sideline on account of the monetary policy announcement. Volumes dried up in the mainboard, while third-tier companies continued to lead in terms of volumes.”

Capital Stake, in its report, said that the PSX closed first trading session of the week flat.

“Indices oscillated in both directions while volumes depreciated from previous close,” it said. “Investors remained indecisive ahead of the monetary policy announcement later in the day.”

On the economic front, Pakistani rupee continued to fall against the US dollar for the 24th successive session as it depreciated or Re0.48 or 0.21% in the inter-bank market on Monday to close at 230.15.

Sectors driving the benchmark KSE-100 index north included, oil and gas exploration (84.58 points), cement (40.18 points) and technology and communication (28.74 points).

Volume on the all-share index fell to 81.3 million from 93.5 million on Friday. The value of shares traded nearly dropped to Rs2.8 billion from Rs3.5 billion recorded in the previous session.

Al Shaheer Corporation (R) was the volume leader with 9.9 million shares, followed by TRG Pakistan with 7.8 million shares and WorldCall Telecom with 5.9 million shares.

Shares of 315 companies were traded on Monday, of which 130 registered an increase, 159 recorded a fall and 26 remained unchanged.