Karachi: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed flat on Monday, increased by persistent geopolitical tensions and speculation on the market before the announcement of monetary policy. The Pakistan State Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee finally announced a drop of 100 basins, bringing the key policy rate to 11%.
The reference index KSE-100 closed down 11.7 points, or 0.01%, to 114,102.24 points, down 114,113.94 points recorded during the last session. The highest index of the day remained at 114,552.21 points, while the lowest level was recorded at 113,077.67 points.
Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at ARIF Habib Ltd said that the actions closed flat in the midst of the uncertainty of investors following the government security measures to suspend commercial ties and prohibit transporters of Indian flags, in parallel with the ambiguity surrounding the political position of the SBP and a decrease in the world’s crude oil prices.
He said that the volatility of the Roupie and the concerns about the potential repercussions in the climbing of border tensions in Pakistan-India also contributed to the downward closure of the market. The KSE-30 index decreased by 108.83 points or 0.31% to 34,808.6 points from 34,917.43 points.
The negotiated shares have increased by 27 million shares to 399.538 million shares, against 372.363 million shares. The commercial value fell to RS19,852 billion RS23,285 billion. The stock market capital extended to Rs13,822 Billions against RS13.808 Billion. Of the 452 companies active in the session, 240 closed Green, 155 in red and 57 remained unchanged. Naveed Nadeem, analyst at Topline Securities, said the reference index was quite volatile during the day’s session, down 1,036 points at the start of negotiations. However, he made a strong recovery in the second half, mainly supported by the cement sector, because investors expected a possible reduction in the rate of the announcement of the monetary policy made on Monday evening.
This recovery was mainly helped by key actions such as FFC, DGKC, FCCL, Poic and MLCF, which together added around 276 points to the index.
The highest increase was recorded in PIA Holding Company Limited B, which increased from RS480.30 to RS5,283,26 per share, followed by Nestlé Pakistan Limited, which increased from RS288.09 to RS7,190.36 per share. A significant drop was noted in Atlas Honda Limited, which fell from RS25.19 to Rs1 150.36 per share; Bati Pakistan Limited followed it, which closed down from RS15.29 to Rs1.564,71 per share.
Muhammad Rizwan, brokerage director at Chase Securities Pakistan (PVT) Limited, said that despite any other escalation between Pakistan and India, tensions remain high, with potential rumors of changes in American travel opinions for the two countries that continue to weigh on market feeling.
In its latest monetary policy announcement, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reduced the reference rate of 100 basic points (BPS). This decision had been largely anticipated and sparked a renewal of investors’ interests in the cyclical sectors. Cement actions, in particular leverages such as DG Khan Cement (DGKC) and Power Cement, led the rally, displaying gains between 4.0% and 7.0%, he said.
Consumer-oriented actions have also experienced an upward dynamic, companies like Pak Elektron Limited (Pael) and Sazgar Engineering Works (SAZGAR) increasing by around 3.0%, reflecting the optimism of investors around lower borrowing costs and increasing the potential for consumer expenditure, he said.
Power cement remained the volume leader with 41.339 million shares, which closed more than 98 paisas to RS14.91 per share. WorldCall Telecom, with 23.846 million shares, followed it, which closed more than 7 paisas at Rs1,34 per share. The other stocks of significant turnover included maple leaves, suited gas, Hascol petrol, K-Electric Ltd, Bo Punjab, Dewan Cement, Dgk Cement and Fauji Cement.
In the long term market, 333 companies recorded exchanges, which increased 212, 117 decreased and 4 remained unchanged.
