January 18, 2024 (MLN): Despite positive developments on the external front, Pakistan’s stock market suffered a setback on Thursday as geopolitical tensions escalated after Pakistan retaliated against Iran’s attack.

The benchmark KSE-100 index lost 364.93 points or 0.57% to settle the session at 63,202.40. It fell 170 points or 0.27% yesterday.

The central bank released key data indicators on Wednesday that showed significant improvements on the external front.

Pakistan recorded a significant current account surplus of $387 million in December, ending a streak of five consecutive monthly deficits.

The cash-strapped nation also attracted substantial foreign investments worth $243m in December, a 56% increase from the previous month and the highest level in a year.

Moreover, the central bank received the second installment of SDR 528m, equivalent to $705.6m from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), along with a $2bn loan extension from UAE for another year.

These developments will significantly bolster the foreign reserves position of the country, which currently stands at just $8.15bn.

In today's session, KSE-100 traded in a range of 1,051.41 points showing an intraday high of 63,579.97 (+12.63) and a low of 62,528.56 (-1,038.78) points.

The total volume of the KSE-100 index was 235.315 million shares.

Of the 100 index companies 25 closed up, 64 closed down, 5 were unchanged, while 6 remained untraded.

KSE-100 index was let down by Power Generation & Distribution with 53.18, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 51.65, Automobile Assembler with 45.46, Commercial Banks with 39.8, and Cement with 35.55 points.

On the flip-side, the index was supported by Food & Personal Care Products with 4.97, Paper & Board with 2.53, Real Estate Investment Trust with 0.84, and Leasing Companies with 0.11 points.

Companies that dragged the index lower were MTL with 45.32, OGDC with 42.71, HUBC with 37.23, LUCK with 31.61 and PPL with 30.23 points.

On the other hand, companies that added points to the index were POL with 20.63, NATF with 17.78, ENGRO with 16.3, HMB with 15.47, and EPCL with 7.45 points.

In the broader market, the All-Share index closed at 42,813.54 with a net loss of 254.99 points.

Total market volume was 445.760 million shares compared to 420.635 from the previous session while traded value was recorded at Rs14.24 billion showing a decrease of Rs4.33bn.

There were 163,080 trades reported in 343 companies with 96 closing up, 225 closing down and 22 remaining unchanged.

To note, the KSE-100 has gained 21,750 points or 52.47% during the fiscal year, whereas the ongoing calendar year has witnessed a cumulative increase of 751 points, equivalent to 1.2%.

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Posted on: 2024-01-18T16:20:49+05:00