Stocks pay price for weak rupee, IMF review limbo

By
Business Desk
|


A stockbroker walks past giant trading screens at Pakistan Stock Exchange.— Reuters/File
A stockbroker walks past giant trading screens at Pakistan Stock Exchange.— Reuters/File
  • PSX languishes through another range-bound day.
  • Positive trade triggers nowhere to be found.
  • Profit-booking remains order of the session.


KARACHI: Losses continued to pile up for Pakistan stocks Thursday as limbo over talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the next tranche of the loan programme and a troubled rupee did not let investors make themselves vulnerable.

Pakistan Stock Exchange’s benchmark KSE-100 Shares Index lost 164.03 points or 0.38% to close at 42,819.72 points.

JS Research in its market wrap said the apex bourse remained under pressure throughout the day due to a lack of positive triggers. The JS analysts added that profit-taking remained the order of the day across the board.

“Moving forward, we recommend investors to avail any downside as an opportunity to buy in the construction and export-oriented sectors,” JS Research said.

According to Arif Habib Limited (AHL), a brokerage house, the PSX got up on the right side of the bed; however, weakened rupee-dollar parity and delay in the review of the IMF loan programme shook investor confidence.

“This shoved the stocks down. Overall, investor participation remained low with third-tier scrips generating most of the volumes,” the brokerage said.

Sectors that brought the market down were technology and communication (-28 points), oil and gas marketing companies (-27.1 points), exploration and production (-25.2 points), food and personal care products (-18.8 points), vanaspati and allied industries (-12.6 points).

Volumes decreased from 186.7 million shares to 181.2 million, down 2.9%, while average traded value shrank 7.7% to $27.7 million as against $29.9 million.

Stocks that contributed volumes significantly were BankIslami Pakistan Limited, Unity Foods, Telecard Limited, Ghani Chemical Industries Limited, and WorldCall Telecom Limited.