KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday closed green after a see-saw session with the benchmark KSE-100 index gaining 279 points to close at 43,508 points.
The index opened higher and traded in the positive zone for most part of the day with a few ups and down. Volumes fell to 111.9 million shares while value stood at Rs5.7 billion. Of the 321 traded scrips, 181 advanced, 119 declined and 21 remained unchanged.
Commercial banking sector again led the trading, today with 25.1m shares traded.
Topline Market Research credited the renewed interest in buying to Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar shrugging off any concerns about the economy being unmanageable and the increased likelihood of the PML-N government proposed amnesty scheme going ahead.
Yesterday, the stock posted steepest fall since May 14, 2018, as 4 percent Pak rupee devaluation against US$ failed to entice investors. Further, Pakistan imports continue to rise as last two devaluations have yet to make any noticeable impact on the overall import bill, thereby raising the question, ‘is devaluation really the solution?’.
Investors also fear that Monday’s devaluation and call to further devalue will likely push up the interest rates and will eventually rein in on aggregate demand.
Investors’ sentiment remained bleak across the board, while disappointment was more striking in banks and cements. Total traded volumes/values was down -14%/-23%, respectively in yesterday’s trading session.
Amongst the major sectors, cement, bank, oil & gas marketing, fertilizer, automobile and exploration & production sectors withheld 519 points from the index.
