Daily Times

Pakistan Stock Exchange recorded a range-bound session on the first trading day of the week pushing the index to close in a negative territory. Benchmark KSE 100 failed to attract investors’ interest as the major stakeholders held back on the account of monetary policy that is due to be announced by State Bank of Pakistan on Tuesday. The State Bank has kept interest rates unchanged in the last two meetings at 13.25%.

Gaining 105.53 points, the KSE-100 Index touched its intraday high at 42,738.56 earlier in the day. However, failing to sustain the gains, the index slipped by 160.87 points to reach its intraday low at 42,472.16. It closed lower by 93.80 points at 42,539.23. The KMI-30 Index was down by -424.14 points or -0.62pc to settle at 68,532.62, while the KSE All Share Index fell short by 67.29 points. Out of the total traded scripts, 157 advanced and 153 declined.

All Share Volume increased by 25.44 Million to 198.48 Million Shares. Market Cap increased by Rs.0.14 Billion.

The volume table was led by Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited, followed by Pakistan International Bulk Terminal Limited and Fauji Cement Company Limited, exchanging 25.96 million, 25.18 million and 12.15 million shares, respectively.

Sectors that continued to deflate the index included oil and gas exploration by 93.05 points, power generation and distribution 36.56 points and textile composite 14.85 points. Among the companies, Oil and Gas Development Company Limited led the losses closing 40.67 points lower followed by Hub Power Company Limited by 30.67 points and Pakistan Oilfields Limited by 24.40 points.

Sectors shedding some losses as collateral to the index were Fertilizer with 40 points, Cement with 19 points, Transport with 9 points, Automobile Assembler with 7 points and Paper & Board with 3 points. Among the companies most points added to the index was by ENGRO which contributed 29 points followed by HBL with 15 points, FFC with 15 points, PIBTL with 9 points and MLCF with 8 points.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s economic freedom score has improved by 0.6% with higher scores for judicial effectiveness and property rights outpacing modest performance in monetary freedom and fiscal health.

According to a report compiled by Washington based Heritage Foundation, Pakistan’s economic freedom score is 55 and its economy is the 131st freest in the 2019 index.

Pakistan is ranked 32nd among 43 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and its overall score is below the regional and world averages, the report added. At global level Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand are the top three ranked countries at the world economic freedom index.

The report said that although some aspects of economic freedom had advanced modestly in Pakistan in recent years, decades of internal political disputes and low levels of foreign investment had led to erratic growth and underdevelopment.

Excessive state involvement in the economy but omnipresent regulatory agencies inhibit private business formation. Lack of access to bank credit undermines entrepreneurship, and the financial sector’s isolation from the outside world slows innovation.

The foundation defines economic freedom as “the fundamental right of every human to control his or her own labour and property.” The report pointed out that in economically free societies, governments allow labor, capital, and goods to move freely, and refrain from coercion or constraint of liberty beyond the extent necessary to protect and maintain liberty itself.The report argues that in an economically free society, “individuals are free to work, produce, consume, and invest in any way they please”.