Fourth successive fall: KSE-100 slips below 45,000 as market seeks IMF clarity

Keenly awaiting clarity on resumption of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme amid falling foreign exchange reserves and depreciating rupee, the Pakistan Stock Exchange 's (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Index registered its fourth successive fall on Friday, as across-the-board selling was witnessed.

Taking a cue from global markets, the KSE-100 slipped in early-morning trade as investors weighed rising oil prices, a rate-hike by the US Federal Reserve, and depreciating rupee as negative indicators.

At close, the KSE-100 Index finished with a fall of 408.6 points or 0.9% to settle at 44,840.81.

KSE-100 stages recovery, but still ends 0.62% lower

After Friday's session, the benchmark index registered its ninth decrease in the last 10 sessions for a cumulative fall of nearly 3.7%.

Index-heavy construction, banks and auto shares were hit, but selling was seen across other sectors as well.

“Trading resumed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) after long Eid Holidays on a negative note,” stated a report from Capital Stake. “Indices slipped lower and lower all day long as investors remained in the holiday mood.”

Equity markets around the globe also showed negative trend, the report added.

In its post-market comment, Topline Securities said selling trend was witnessed across-the-board as investors are looking forward towards concrete news flow regarding financial support from the recently-visited friendly countries and resumption of the IMF programme.

On the economic front, the government decided not to extend the tenure of Dr Reza Baqir as State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor following the end of his three-year term. Subsequently, Dr Murtaza Syed assumed charge as acting governor until appointment of a new SBP chief.

Rupee falls another 0.5% against US dollar as market opens after Eid break

News flow during Eid holidays also included the Consumer Price Index (CPI) surging 13.4 percent on a year-on-year basis in April 2022, far higher than increase of 12.7 percent recorded in March and 11.1 percent in April 2021.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also constituted the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) that will review and formulate economic policies in a more holistic manner and advise on short-term macro-economic stabilisation for stable and sustained economic progress.

On the other hand, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) suffered a revenue shortfall of Rs5 billion during April 2022, as provisional revenue collection stood at Rs 480 billion during April 2022 against the assigned monthly target of Rs485 billion.

Sectors driving the benchmark KSE-100 index downward included cement (95.53 points), technology and communication (76.36 points) and banking (75.63 points).

Volume on the all-share index fell to 189.48 million from 325.47 million on the previous Friday. The value of shares traded fell to Rs5.66 billion from Rs9.29 billion recorded in the previous session.

Summit Bank was the volume leader with 25.75 million shares, followed by Unity Foods with 18.23 million shares, and Cnergyico PK with 9.13 million shares.

Shares of 333 companies were traded on Friday, of which 90 registered an increase, 219 recorded a fall, and 24 remained unchanged.