Stocks remain range bound on PKR erosion

KARACHI: Pakistan stocks remained range bound on Friday owing to continuous erosion in Pakistani Rupee (PKR) value against the US dollar.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended at 41,679 points from previous day’s closing of 41,772 points, showing a decline of 93 points.

Analysts said that the investors were shaky due to uncertainties in the currency market as the local currency witnessed a continuous decline against the greenback.

The US Dollar made gain for 11th straight day against PKR to reach 236.84 at closing of interbank foreign exchange market on Friday.

The exchange rate recorded a decline of 96 paisas in rupee value to end at Rs236.84 to the dollar from previous day’s closing of Rs235.88 in the interbank foreign exchange market.

The local currency recorded a decline of Rs18.24 or 8.34 per cent during the past 11 sessions from Rs218.60 against the dollar on September 01, 2022.

Analysts at Topline Securities said range bound session was observed at the bourse today, as the index juggled between intraday high of 145 points and intraday low of -169 points.

Major contribution to the index came from TRG, COLG, ENGRO, HUBC & LOTCHEM, as they cumulatively contributed 125 points to the index, on the flip side MEBL, HBL, POL, PAKT and BAHL lost value to weigh down on the index by 112 points.

Investor participation declined on DoD basis as traded volume and volume for the day stood at 219 million shares (-15 per cent on DoD basis) and Rs8.88 billion (down 11 per cent on DoD basis) respectively.

TRG again led the volumes at the exchange, as about 27.6 million shares of the tech company exchanged hands today.