PSX begins rollover week on negative note

• At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index drops by 744.41 points to close at 45,745.
• Investors adopted a “buy-on-rumour-and-sell-on-confirmation strategy" during the session.
• Shares of 344 companies were traded during the session.

KARACHI: Contrary to the expectations, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) began the rollover week on a bearish note as the market succumbed to selling pressure despite a host of positive triggers.

The confirmation of a staff-level agreement between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) failed to entice the market participants as investors adopted a “buy-on-rumour-and-sell-on-confirmation strategy.”

Investors’ sentiment turned sour as the State Bank’s decision to increase the benchmark policy rate by 150 basis points, which was more than the market expectation, took a toll on the investment climate. Consequently, the market fell below the 46,000-point mark.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index had dropped by 744.41 points, or 1.60%, to close at 45,745.

A report from Topline Securities noted that Pakistan equities commenced the week on a negative note in the backdrop of a hike in the discount rate by the SBP.

“The aforementioned increment was higher than street expectation of 75-100 bps,” it said, adding that however, news regarding the IMF staff-level agreement did not provide some support as KSE-100 Index touched an intra-day high of 46,602 points.

Shares of 344 companies were traded during the session. At the close of trading, 70 scrips closed in the green, 263 in the red, and 11 remained unchanged.

Overall trading volumes rose to 261.9 million shares compared with Friday’s tally of 304.2 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs10.9 billion.

TRG Pakistan was the volume leader with 22.4 million shares traded, losing Rs7.74 to close at Rs95.51. It was followed by Byco Petroleum with 21.6 million shares traded, losing Rs0.21 to close at Rs6.83, and TPL Properties with 15.8 million shares traded, losing Rs0.83 to close at Rs49.46.