PSX Closing Bell: A bitter pill to swallow

August 30, 2023 (MLN): The benchmark KSE-100 index witnessed another bearish session on Wednesday, losing 525.86 points or 1.12% DoD to close the day at 46,244.55.

Market sentiments remain subdued as the Pakistani Rupee (PKR) continues its downward trajectory, reaching yet another all-time low of 304.45 against the US Dollar.

In just this month alone, PKR has lost 5.85% of its value against the US Dollar, while the gap between the open market and interbank exchange rates continues to grow.

The upcoming release of August's trade figures, expected within the next few days, is anticipated to show rising import levels once again.

The index traded in a range of 756.55 points showing an intraday high of 46,857.88 (+87.46) and a low of 46,101.33 (-669.09) points.

Total Volume of the KSE100 Index was 101.472 million shares.

Of the 100 index companies 13 closed up, 77 closed down, 3 were unchanged while 7 remained untraded.

KSE100 Index was let down by Power Generation & Distribution with 108.48, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 76.99, Technology & Communication with 59.6, Cement with 51.73 and Fertilizer with 50.52 points.

Companies dragging the index lower were HUBC with 77.08, PPL with 30.95, MEBL with 27.0, OGDC with 26.39 and TRG with 26.1 points.

KSE100 index was supported by Automobile Parts & Accessories with 5.18, Leather & Tanneries with 2.37, Engineering with 1.47 and Real Estate Investment Trust with 0.64 points.

Companies adding points to the index were MCB with 11.51, MTL with 8.12, HBL with 5.29, THALL with 5.18 and INIL with 5.17 points.

Moreover, market participants are closely monitoring the upcoming Consumer Price Index (CPI) data due on Friday, which will be pivotal for the next Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on September 14 wherein experts are of a view of a rate hike.

In the broader market, the All-Share index closed at 30,819.6 with a net loss of 295.71 points.

Total market volume was 200.292 million shares compared to 217.852 from the previous session while traded value being recorded at 8.99 billion showing an increase of Rs.0.71 billion.

There was 113,048 trades reported in 326 companies with 70 closing up, 239 closing down and 17 remaining unchanged.

KSE-100 Weekly time-frame chart

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