KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) Monday opened the week flat as the benchmark KSE-100 index lost 54 points to close at 45,489 points.
The index opened higher, climbing around 280 points within the first few minutes to hit the day’s high of 45,842, but could not keep the momentum going.
In all, 249 million shares worth Rs8.6 billion were traded at the exchange. Of the 372 traded scrips, 137 advanced, 219 declined and 16 remained unchanged.
Exceptional interest in the Bank of Punjab – 85.3m shares traded – meant commercial banking sector dominated trading by a wide margin.
The stocks started new week on positive note and added 145 points to reach 45688 level. The Pakistan Stock Exchange remained positive and added 62 points to reach 45605 till midday.
On Friday, the stocks closed positive on budget day, with the benchmark KSE-100 index settling at 45,543 points, up by 82 points. Market kicked off on a positive note making an intra-day high of +211 points. Market traded range-bound throughout the day as investors remained cautious as the government was unveiling its sixth consecutive budget in the National Assembly.
Moreover, Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves fell to $17.130b during the week ended April 20 from $17.545 billion a week ago. The major heavyweights namely HBL (+0.27 percent), OGDC (+0.78 percent), UBL (+1.44pc) , ENGRO (+0.55pc), MCB (-0.32pc), HUBC (+0.37pc) and FFC (+4.27pc) cumulatively contributed +121 points to the index. Traded volumes increased by 32pc DoD to 225m shares while value traded rose to $85m.
