Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) faced a downturn on the first business day of the week.
The KSE 100 Index dropped by 282.72 points, marking a decline of 0.36%, and closed at 78,615.00 points compared to 78,897.73 points on the previous trading day.
Trading activity saw a decrease with 491,124,197 shares exchanged, down from 743,072,057 shares the prior day. The total value of shares traded was Rs 10.124 billion, down from Rs 12.900 billion.
Out of 443 companies that participated in the market, 155 reported gains while 228 experienced losses. The share prices of 60 companies remained unchanged.
The KSE-100 Index had a 0.45% gain last week compared to the previous session but stayed below the 79,000 mark, according to an AHL report. Notable gainers included KOHC (+10.0%), MARI (+1.31%), and BAFL (+2.11%).
Looking ahead, the FTSE rebalancing on September 20 will shift Pakistan from a secondary emerging market to a frontier market, which might influence sell-side flows. The market outlook remains positive with expectations of reaching 80,000 points in the near term.
Additional factors influencing the market include Pakistan’s consumer price index (CPI) for August 2024 at 9.6% year-on-year, down from 11.1% in July. The trade deficit for August 2024 was reported at US$1.68 billion, a 12% month-on-month decrease. In the T-Bill auction, the government raised Rs 835 billion against a target of Rs 700 billion, with yields remaining stable.