Pakistan stocks extend losses on PKR free-fall to dollar

Pakistan stocks extend losses on PKR free-fall to dollar

KARACHI: Stocks on Tuesday extended losses owing to continues decline in Pakistani Rupee (PKR) against the US dollar.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended at 41,221 points from previous day’s closing of 41,520 points, showing a decline of 299 points.

READ MORE: Stocks end down by 159 points as PKR devaluation continues

PSX recorded decline for the third straight session.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market observed a negative session today as US Dollar continued its flight against PKR.

The PKR witnessed the fall for 13th consecutive session on Tuesday as the US dollar ended near record high in interbank foreign exchange market.

The exchange rate recorded a decline of PKR 1 to end at PKR 238.91 to the dollar from previous day’s closing of PKR 237.91 in interbank foreign exchange market.

READ MORE: Weekly Review: PKR free fall to haunt stock market

The local currency recorded a decline of Rs20.31 or 9.34 per cent during the past 13 sessions from Rs218.60 against the dollar on September 01, 2022.

The analysts said that the benchmark KSE-100 index opened in the positive zone but failed to sustain in the green zone which led the index to an intra-day low of 441.88 points and close in the red zone.

READ MORE: Stocks remain range bound on PKR erosion

Volumes remained decent in the main board whereas hefty volumes were witnessed in the 3rd tier stocks.

Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (-123.2 points), Technology (-57.8 points), Banks (-27.3 points), Cement (-24.1 points) and Power (-23.6 points).

READ MORE: Stocks shed 240 points on continuous PKR devaluation

Volumes increased from 148.2 million shares to 156.6 million shares (+5.6 per cent DoD). The average traded value decreased by 24.6 per cent to reach US$ 23.7 million as against US$ 31.5 million.

Stocks that contributed to the volumes are KEL, TPLP, TRG, WTL, and EPCL.