August 31, 2023 (MLN): The benchmark KSE100 Index continued its bearish momentum on Thursday, closing the trading session at 45,002.41, experiencing a significant loss of 2.69% or 1242.14 points.

The analyst fraternity is of the view that the market went down amid the continuous depreciation of PKR against USD and likely hike in interest rates owing to high inflation.

Investors are closely monitoring the falling rupee because the next review by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will not happen for a few months, and there isn't much clear information about planned investments from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Additionally, Moody’s assertion for weak infrastructure and governance issues and concerns for unresolved circular debt crises in the power sector played a catalytic role in the bearish close.

Investors are losing their confidence in the local bourse because of deteriorating economic conditions, resulting in a sell-off burden.

The index traded in a range of 1898.39 points showing an intraday high of 46,358.01 (+113.45) and a low of 44,459.62 (-1784.94) points.

Total Volume of the KSE100 Index was 169.142 million shares.

Of the 100 index companies 8 closed up, 84 closed down, 4 were unchanged while 4 remained untraded.

The KSE100 Index was let down by Commercial Banks with 436.4, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 162.2, Cement with 157.01, Power Generation & Distribution with 75.0, and Fertilizer with 71.09 points.

Companies dragging the index lower were MCB with 120.35, UBL with 103.27, HUBC with 72.38, MEBL with 69.77 and PPL with 68.22 points.

KSE100 index was supported by Insurance with 1.17 and Woollen with 0.04 points.

Companies adding points to the index were SYS with 12.21, FFC with 7.61, AVN with 2.75, ABL with 1.64 and NRL with 1.17 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 30,041.97 with a net loss of 777.63 points.

Total market volume was 287.356 million shares compared to 200.292 from the previous session while traded value was recorded at 12.3 billion showing an increase of Rs.3.32 billion.

There were 141,155 trades reported in 324 companies with 48 closing up, 256 closing down and 20 remaining unchanged.

KSE-100 YTD performance

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Posted on: 2023-08-31T16:35:28+05:00