Karachi, July 26, 2024 – The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a further decline on Friday, with the benchmark KSE-100 index falling by 440 points. The index closed at 78,029 points, down from the previous day’s closing of 78,469 points, marking a significant drop of -0.56%.
Analysts at Topline Securities Limited observed that the Pakistan Stock Exchange remained range-bound throughout the session. Investors chose to stay on the sidelines, awaiting the upcoming monetary policy meeting scheduled for Monday, July 29. The cautious sentiment led to a sideways trading pattern, with the index ultimately settling at 78,030 points.
The day’s trading saw a mixed performance from key stocks. Major contributors to the index’s decline included HBL, OGDC, MEBL, PSO, and SYS, which collectively weighed down the index by 258 points. Conversely, gains from stocks like BAHL, BAFL, UBL, HUBC, and PAKT contributed a combined 216 points to the index.
Trading volume for the day reached 277 million shares, with a total traded value of Rs.11.58 billion. K-Electric Limited (KEL) emerged as the volume leader, trading 15 million shares.
On a Week-on-Week (WoW) basis, the KSE-100 Index experienced a decline of -1.6%. This drop was attributed to increased political uncertainty following the government’s reluctance to implement a court’s decision regarding reserved seats for the opposition and measures to ban the opposition party PTI. Additionally, profit-taking by investors after a prolonged consolidation period around the 80,000 level contributed to the pressure at Pakistan stock exchange.
A notable event during the week was the T-Bill auction, where yields declined by 30-56 basis points ahead of the monetary policy announcement. The average daily traded volume and value for the week were 336 million shares and Rs.15.5 billion, respectively.
The performance of Pakistan stock exchange this week reflects a combination of political uncertainty and investor caution, which have significantly impacted trading activities. As investors await further economic and political developments, the outlook for the Pakistan stock exchange remains cautious.