Karachi, January 5, 2024 – Pakistan stocks experienced a setback on Friday as the Senate passed a resolution to delay the general elections, causing the benchmark KSE-100 index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) to slump by 124 points.
The index concluded at 64,515 points, a decline from the previous day’s closing figure of 64,639 points.
Analysts from Topline Securities Limited reported that the KSE-100 Index initially traded positively in the first half of the trading session. However, negative pressure emerged in the latter half following news of the Senate’s resolution for an election delay due to security concerns. The index reached an intraday low, falling by 881 points. A partial recovery occurred in the eleventh hour as investors considered the resolution’s non-binding nature and its passage with thin attendance. The index closed at 64,515 points, reflecting a decrease of -0.19 percent.
Noteworthy contributors to the index included KEL, SRVI, SEARL, HBL, and SHEL, collectively adding 112 points. Conversely, FFC, ENGRO, PSEL, BAHL, and PAKT experienced value losses, collectively exerting downward pressure on the index by -143 points. KEL emerged as the volume leader for the day, with a trading volume of 481 million shares.
Analysts observed that the KSE-100 Index registered a 3.35 percent increase on a week-over-week (WoW) basis. This gain was largely attributed to institutional buying on new allocations. Additionally, anticipation surrounding the International Monetary Fund (IMF) executive board meeting for the approval of the second tranche of the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) program and the increase in State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) foreign reserves by $464 million to $8.2 billion attracted investor interest.
Key developments during the week included the government maintaining petroleum product prices unchanged on a fortnightly basis, Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation for December 2023 standing at 29.66% year-over-year (YoY) compared to 29.23% in November 2023, Pakistan Oil Marketing Companies’ (OMCs) sales numbers for December 2023 posting a 10 percent month-over-month (MoM) and 7 percent YoY decline to 1.24 million tons, and Pakistan’s trade deficit coming in at US$1.7 billion, down 13% MoM and 40% YoY in December 2023 according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). The average traded volume and value for the week were reported at 687 million shares and 19.6 billion, respectively.
While the market faced headwinds due to the uncertainty surrounding the election delay, broader economic indicators and institutional activities continued to shape market dynamics. Investors will be closely monitoring political developments and global economic factors in the upcoming weeks to assess the impact on the Pakistan stock market.
