A day after posting a decent recovery, pressure returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as the benchmark KSE-100 Index lost 0.42% to end the week below the 39,700 level.
At close, the KSE-100 Index settled with a fall of 169.13 points, finishing at 39,669.20.
On a weekly basis, the benchmark index registered a decline of 4%.
The benchmark index tanked as soon as the bell rang and kept losing ground during the session. Decent volumes were seen on the mainboard while low tier stocks continued to gamer attention.
A report by Topline Securities said the KSE-100 Index largely traded in the negative zone during the trading session.
“This decline in market can be attributed to decline in credit rating from S&P Global for Pakistan’s long-term sovereign credit rating by one notch to “CCC+” from “B”, decline in SBP foreign reserves to a critical level of $6.12 billion for the week ended as of Dec 16, 2022 and increase in political noise following Punjab Governor action late on Thursday night as he de-notified Chaudhry Parvez Elahi as chief minister of the Punjab, citing failure to take vote of confidence on specified date and time,” said the report.
Sectors dragging the benchmark KSE 100 index downwards included technology and communication (92.92 points), fertiliser (75.83 points) and cement (64.40 points).
On the economic front, the Pakistani rupee lost Re0.21 or 0.09%, to settle at Rs225.64 against the US Dollar.
Meanwhile, Baluchistan Wheels Limited (BWHL), in a notification to the PSX, stated that it has announced to prolong its closure of production activities till December 30.
Volume on the all-share index decreased to 132.6 million from 194.5 million on Thursday. The value of shares traded increased to Rs4.59 billion from Rs5.49 billion recorded in the previous session.
Hub Power Company Limited was the volume leader with 8.32 million shares, followed by Pakistan Petroleum Limited with 6.85 million shares, and Pak Refinery Limited with 6.11 million shares.
Shares of 327 companies were traded on Friday, of which 104 registered an increase, 189 recorded a fall, and 34 remained unchanged.