Daily Times

Range-bound trading resulted in a loss of 0.48pc for the benchmark index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), as both the volume and value of shares traded fell from the previous day.

The day’s trading session ended with the benchmark index 248 points lower at 43,232, continuing a trend that began at the opening bell.

The KSE-100 index lost 210.85 points (0.48pc) to end the day at 43,270.65. The KOSPI increased by 0.96pc in one week. The KSE-100 index fell 0.45pc in a volatile trading session.

A report from Topline Securities indicated that the market stayed within a tight trading range all day as investors chose to take profits. The brokerage firm noted that “investor involvement was limited,” explaining that “investors decided to remain on the sidelines” ahead of Monday’s monetary policy statement.

However, “news that IMF has planned its board meeting for August 29 after gaining assurance from bilateral friends such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar for bridging the finance deficit of $4b” may be to thank for the week’s improvement.

Jameel Ahmad was named governor of the SBP by the government on Friday, a significant economic development. When Dr. Murtaza Syed stepped down, Ahmad stepped in to assume her duties. The appointment precedes a meeting of the SBP’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Monday, August 22, 2022, during which the policy rate will be decided.

The daily gain for the rupee against the dollar was Re0.30, or 0.14pc, bringing the final exchange rate to 214.65 paisas for the dollar.

On Friday, the volume on the all-share index fell from Thursday’s 621.2m shares to 306.2m. However, after reaching a high of Rs10.5b in the prior session, the value of shares traded fell to Rs6.4b in the current session.

Hascol Petrol had the most volume with 71.46m shares traded, followed by Pak Refinery with 19.46m and Bank of Punjab with 19.14m.

On Friday, the stock prices of 323 firms fluctuated as follows: 110 rose in value, 185 declined in value, and 28 remained the same.