KARACHI: Bearish spell extended at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) for one more session on Wednesday, as the indices dripped all day long amid increased market participation.
On the economic front, the Pakistani Rupee deteriorated to an all-time low of Rs161.94 against the US Dollar in the interbank market. According to market analysts, the rupee came under pressure due to (large) foreign debt repayment before the closure of the outgoing fiscal year on June 30, 2019.
Furthermore, the government would borrow a record Rs43.5 trillion in the next fiscal year mainly for the repayment of interest cost of the maturing public debt, which is more than 84pc or Rs20 trillion compared with the outgoing fiscal year.
According to the data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, exports of Pakistan increased by 3.64pc in May 2019, as compared to the previous month, and by 24.06pc as compared to May 2018. Exports amounted to Rs306,303 million in May 2019 as compared to Rs295,541 million in April 2019.
Losing 458.68 points, the KSE-100 Index reached its intraday low of 33,731.94. It ended lower by 102.06 points at 34,088.56. The KMI-30 Index drowned by 169.11 points to close at 54,604.57, while the KSE All Share Index gained 32.15 points, ending at 25,089.03. Out of the total traded shares, 101 advanced, 201 declined while the value of 36 remained unchanged.
Market volumes improved by 10pc, from 144.85 million in the previous session to 159.68 million. K-Electric Limited (KEL 0.00pc), The Bank of Punjab (BOP -0.54pc) and Habib Metropolitan Bank Limited (HMB -1.69pc) remained the top picks of the day. The scripts had traded 29.66 million shares, 8.78 million shares and 5.37 million shares respectively.
In a notification sent to the exchange by the Board of Directors of Aisha Steel Mills Limited (ASL -0.79pc), the company has started commercial operations of its Chinese Push Pull Pickling Line, German Rolling Mill and Austrian Batch Annealing Furnace on Wednesday (June 26).
