Profit-taking drags PSX lower to close week in red

• The market was rising for some days.
• It touched intraday high of 146,813.43.
• Intraday low recorded at 144,917.18.
  

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended the week in the red as investors engaged in profit-taking following a relatively steady upward trend.

PSX's benchmark KSE-100 index on Friday closed at 145,382.79 points after a drop of 264.34 points or 0.18%, down from the previous session's close of 145,647.13 points.

Samiullah Tariq, Head of Research at Pak-Kuwait Investment Company, attributing the decline to profit-taking, noted: "The market was continuously increasing for some days."

The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Index climbed to an intraday high of 146,813.43 points, gaining 1,166.30 points, or 0.8%, while touching a low of 144,917.18 points.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank also fell for a third consecutive week to $14.232 billion as of August 1, down $72 million from the previous week, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday. The decline was attributed to external debt repayments.

Total liquid foreign reserves dropped by $111 million to $19.496 billion, with commercial bank holdings falling $39 million to $5.264 billion.

In July, imports rose 12% month-on-month (MoM) and 29% year-on-year (YoY) to $5.4 billion, while exports increased to $2.7 billion, up 9% MoM and 17% YoY. As a result, the July trade deficit widened by 44% YoY to $2.8 billion.