KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange remained under severe pressure and witnessed drastic declined during the outgoing week ended on September 01, 2023 due to heavy selling on worries about Pak Rupee depreciation and fears of further increase in interest rate.

The benchmark KSE-100 index plunged by 2,358.56 points on week-on-week basis and closed at 45,312.66 points.

Average daily trading volumes on ready counter slightly increased by 2.1 percent to 210.29 million shares during this week as compared to previous week’s average of 205.88 million shares while average daily traded value on the ready counter declined by 2.2 percent to Rs 8.10 billion during this week against previous week’s Rs 8.28 billion.

BRIndex100 decreased by 292.44 points during this week to close at 4,524.06 points with average daily turnover of 181.167 million shares.

BRIndex30 declined by 1,104.65 points on week-on-week basis to close at 15,831.29 points with average daily trading volumes of 113.433 million shares.

The foreign investors however remained net buyers of shares worth 3.289 million. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 329 billion to Rs 6.762 trillion.

“This week KSE-100 index fell by 4.95 percent, losing 2,358 points and closing at 45,313”, an analyst at AKD Securities said.

Sector-wise, Textile weaving was the top performer, indicating an increase of 2.83 percent. Whereas, Close End Mutual Fund/Power Generation & Distribution/ Automobile Parts & Accessories were amongst the worst performers with a decline of 15.9 percent/10.4 percent/9.84 percent.

Flow-wise, major net selling was recorded by Banks/DFI with a net sell of $6.26million. On the other hand, Insurance Companies absorbed the selling with a net buy of $7.9million.

Company-wise, top performers during the week were SCBPL (up 5.5 percent), INDU (up 4.0 percent), HMB (up 3.7 percent), AICL (up 3.4 percent) and NRL (up2.3 percent), while top laggards were HGFA (down 16.4 percent), DGKC (down 15.8 percent), NML (down 12.8 percent), APL (down 12.4 percent) and NCL (down 12.1 percent).

An analyst at JS Global Capital said that the week started on a dull note as bearish momentum continued. Investors aimed to lock in profits due to uncertain developments on both the political and economic fronts.

During the week, Rupee continued to depreciate with PKR/US$ interbank rate losing 1.5 percent. On the other hand, with POL prices already witnessing 15 percent increase in August 2023, another 6.0 percent increase was announced for the first half of September 2023.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023