KSE-100 falls over 500 points owing to IMF programme uncertainty

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued to witness selloff for the fifth consecutive session on Wednesday and fell over 500 points owing to stalemate between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with regard to resumption of the bailout programme.

Market is getting mixed signals and while some investors are optimistic of a staff level agreement, others seem to be sceptical.

At close on Wednesday, the KSE-100 Index recorded a decrease of 501.88 points or 1.23% to close at 40,376.1.

KSE-100 closes with marginal loss amid sharp decline investor participation

Since Thursday last week, the market has shed nearly 1,500 points.

Trading began on a mixed note and the market remained rangebound, however, final hours of the session saw modest selloff which dragged the KSE-100 Index downward.

All index heavy sectors including automobile, cement, chemical, banking, oil and fertiliser sectors plunged to close in red.

A report from Arif Habib Limited stated a negative session was witnessed at the PSX.

“The KSE-100 opened with positive numbers but sentiment soon shifted in favour of bears as the market traded in the red zone for the majority of the trading session,” it said.

“Due to the delay in signing of the staff level agreement between the government and the IMF, as well as the prevalent macroeconomic uncertainty, investors chose to stay cautious, causing the index to fall to an intraday low of -525.27 points.”

Volumes remained flat across the board, with third tier stocks remaining in the limelight, the report said.

Capital Stake, in its report, said that bears dominated the PSX on Wednesday.

Indices slipped lower and lower for most part of the day, while volumes surged from last close, the statement said.

On the economic front, rupee maintained positive momentum against the US dollar for second straight session and appreciated Re0.72 or 0.25% in the inter-bank market on Wednesday to settle at 283.20.

Sectors dragging the benchmark KSE-100 Index lower included oil and gas exploration (73.25 points), cement (72.56 points) and technology and communication (61.20 points).

Volume on the all-share index rose to 148.5 million from 142.8 million on Tuesday. The value of shares traded fell to Rs3.9 billion from Rs4.2 billion recorded in the previous session.

Fauji Cement was the volume leader with 17.5 million shares followed by WorldCall Telecom with 11.1 million shares and Thatta Cement with 9.2 million shares.

Shares of 320 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 64 registered an increase, 229 recorded a fall and 27 remained unchanged.