Karachi, June 16, 2023 – The Pakistan stock market witnessed a decline of 68 points on Friday, driven by cautious investor sentiments.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 41,301 points, down from the previous day’s closing of 41,369 points.
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Analysts at Arif Habib Limited noted that the market concluded the week with a downward trend. Although the market opened on a positive note, the lack of significant triggers led to lackluster sentiments among investors. The unresolved 9th review of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program further added to the caution in the market. Consequently, overall trading volumes remained low, with the third-tier equities dominating the volume board.
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Several sectors contributed to the market’s performance decline. Notably, Commercial Banks (-46.8 points), Fertilizer (-35.9 points), Power Generation & Distribution (-29.5 points), E&P’s (-19.6 points), and Pharmaceuticals (-12.3 points) all experienced negative trends.
Trading volumes saw a slight increase, rising from 149.7 million shares to 156.0 million shares (+4.2 percent DoD). The average traded value also rose by 3.8 percent to USD 13.0 million compared to USD 12.5 million.
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Among the stocks, TPLP, KEL, HASCOL, WTL, and SNBL made significant contributions to the trading volumes.
The ongoing cautious sentiment in the market indicates the need for investors to closely monitor developments, including the progress of the IMF program review.
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