Daily Times

The benchmark KSE-100 Index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) fell by 274 points on Friday, after a four-session rally that saw both volume and value of shares traded decline.

The announcement that an agreement had been reached at the staff level with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) helped to boost the market’s opening. As a result, the index fluctuated between up and down during the balance of the trading day.

To finish at 42,074.91 points, the KSE-100 index dropped 274 points or 0.65pc. According to a report from Arif Habib Limited (AHL), the market remained range-bound throughout the day as investors chose to take a profit. The brokerage firm stated that “volumes remained dry on the main board, although substantial volumes were observed in the 3rd tier stocks.”

Banks (69.7 points), E&P (55.1 points), cement (45.7 points), engineering (21.5 points), and fertilizers all contributed to the decline (19.6 points). Despite a 0.55pc decrease in the inter-bank market versus the dollar on Friday, the rupee finished at around 211 in the domestic market as import payments and the strength of the US dollar continued to put pressure on the currency. In addition, the administration decided in the wee hours of the morning to lower gasoline prices for the remainder of July. On the other hand, the volume on the all-share index dropped from 227.85m to 140.12m. From the previous session, the value of shares exchanged was Rs7.43 billion (Rs5.37 billion).

It was Pak Elektron, followed by Unity Foods with 8.96m shares, and Sui Northern Gas Company with 5.92m shares. On Friday, 347 firms’ shares were traded, of which 116 rose, 208 fell, and 23 stayed the same.