KARACHI: The benchmark KSE-100 index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) fell by 13 points on Monday in dull trading during the day.
The index closed at 45,736 points as against last Friday’s closing of 45,749 points. showing a decrease of 12.9 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market remained dull today as a battle between the bull and bear was boxed in the range-bound area.
Inflationary concerns feared the investors as weekly inflation witnessed the highest increase in three months and further weakening of Pak rupee against the dollar.
In a bid to curb runaway inflation in the country, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Saturday raised the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) by one percentage point for scheduled banks for the first time in 13 years.
The expectation of interest rate hike by SBP in the upcoming monetary policy caused profit booking in cyclical stocks and accumulation in banking stocks. On the flip side, activity from institutional investors remained lackluster.
Sectors contributing to the performance include Cement (-29.8 points), Vanaspati & Allied (-19.2 points), Inv. Banks (-18 points), OMC’s (-17.5 points) and Power (-10.8 points).
Volumes decreased from 192.5 million shares to 172.9 million shares (-10.2 per cent DoD). Traded value also decreased by 33.0 per cent to reach US$ 29.3 million as against US$ 43.72 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include HASCOL, GGL, WTL, UNITY and FFLR1.
