KSE-100 falls 1.28% as uncertainty of IMF review persists

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) extended its fall from the previous session and the KSE-100 index declined 1.28% as uncertainty surrounding the ninth review of Pakistan’s economy by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) persisted on Monday.

Investors stayed on the sidelines owing to weak macroeconomic cues. By the end of the session, the KSE-100 Index closed with a loss of 537.43 points or 1.28% to settle at 41,612.67.

KSE-100 falls 0.57% owing to lack of positive triggers

Following a brief open in the positive zone, the KSE-100 index began its descent in the initial minutes. The slide accelerated in the second half of the session, elevating the losses.

Index-heavy automobile, banks, cement, chemical and oil sector stocks recorded losses and majority of scrips from these segments ended in the red.

Arif Habib Limited, in its report, said that a bloodbath session was recorded at the PSX.

“The market opened in the green, but lack of investor participation and redemptions caused the index to drop 632.29 points intra-day and close in the red,” the report said.

“Volumes in the mainboard dried up notably as a result of political noise in the country, and third-tier companies continued to lead the volume board.”

Capital Stake added that bears took charge of the PSX on the first trading session of the week.

In a report, it said that indices traded in red for most part of the day, while volumes fell from last close.

“Ambiguity surrounding ninth review of the IMF paired with foreign exchange reserves dropping to a record low caused investors to retreat,” the research house said.

On the economic front, domestic cement sales fell by 6.38% on a year-on-year basis while its exports contracted by 78.74% from same period last year.

Rupee sustained minor losses against the US dollar on Monday, as the currency recorded a depreciation of Re0.22 or 0.1% in the inter-bank market to close at 223.91.

Sectors driving the benchmark KSE-100 lower included cement (125.26 points), technology and communication (88.84 points) and banking (76.20 points).

Volume on the all-share index fell to 126.3 million from 143.2 million on Friday. The value of shares traded dipped to Rs3.2 billion from Rs5.1 billion recorded in the previous session.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 9.85 million shares, followed by Fauji Cement with 9.5 million shares and Hascol with 8 million shares

Shares of 329 companies were traded on Monday, of which 61 registered an increase, 250 recorded a fall, and 18 remained unchanged.