The Pakistan Stock Market’s (PSX) KSE100 index widespread selling continues for the second day of trading this week. Several reasons have fuelled this downward trajectory ranging from high inflation to elections uncertainty. Moreover, escalation with drone attack on US troops has furthered the uncertainty regarding the middle east crisis. The index lost (1039.34) points in the previous session.
Following the trial court’s Tuesday sentence of 10 years in prison for Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the cypher case, political unrest has escalated.
As was already mentioned, from a technical standpoint, the KSE-100 index encountered resistance. Investors have also been kept on the defensive by the uncertain outcome of the elections and SBP maintaining the policy rate. Although, it was in line with market anticipation.
The SBP’s decision is driven by the need to manage persistently high inflation, with projected inflation figures for fiscal year 2024 revised from 20-22% to 23-25%. Despite this, there’s an anticipation of potential rate cuts in the coming months as inflation is expected to decline.
KSE100
The Benchmark KSE100 Index closed the session Red with index posting an intraday high of 300.79 (0.48%) points and an intraday low of -1,136.10 (-1.81%) points.
Companies contributing negatively to the KSE100 index included COLG(-89.11) points, OGDC(-75.94) points, MEBL(-71.40) points. The volume leaders included KEL(-4.99%), WTL(-1.65%), HASCOL(+2.22%). The scrips traded 52.84 million, 29.11 million and 24.39 million shares respectively.
In the index-heavy oil and gas sectors, selling pressure was more intense, and uncertainty was also felt by others.
MARKET FRONT
Brent crude, a leading indicator in the oil market, has fallen to $81.76 per barrel.
Similarly, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude has seen a marginal decline to $76.77 per barrel.
Pakistan’s domestic bullion market (GOLD) experienced a notable surge on Tuesday, with the price of 24-karat gold climbing by Rs700 per tola, reaching a remarkable Rs216,100. This increase reflects the broader trends in the international gold market and the country’s economic trends.
The Pakistani rupee (PKR) witnessed a marginal appreciation of 9 paisa against the US dollar. The currency settled at PKR 279.55 per USD.
Pakistan’s official reserve assets stand at $13.67 billion as of December 31, 2023, demonstrate Pakistan’s financial resiliency in a changing global economic environment.
