KSE-100 at 42,034.12, Down by 44.42 points

Pakistan’s benchmark, KSE-100 Index went on to extend Friday’s negative bearish run as it has lost more than 188.77 points during the first hour of trading in today’s session.
The index is currently trading at 42,018.49 level.

Pakistan’s economic growth is provisionally estimated to achieve a thirteen-year high level of 5.8 percent for FY18. Concurrently, headline inflation remains moderate and is expected to stay well below the annual target of 6.0 percent. The headline CPI inflation remains moderate averaging 3.8 percent during the first ten months of FY18, mainly owing to low food inflation. Indeed, the average food inflation, clocked in 1.8 percent during Jul-Apr FY18, whereas the year-on-year food inflation was close to zero in March and April 2018. In the light of the above discussions and developments, the Monetary Policy Committee has decided to increase the policy rate by 50bps to 6.50 percent effective from Monday 28th May 2018.

Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has proposed construction of ten new oil storage facilities, having combined capacity of 304,445 metric tons (mt) petrol and 446,335mt diesel, during the financial year 2018-19. The project’s estimated cost is over US$ 5 billion, while 1,811 acres land has been allocated for the purpose. Currently, the PARCO is working on a detailed feasibility study of the project, which is expected to be completed by end of 2023, APP said.

According to the Moody’s, due to high external financial debts and wide current account deficit, the currency depreciation poses risks to Pakistan credit.