The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed mixed trading on Monday, as its benchmark KSE-100 Index swayed in both directions before closing the day flat.
The KSE-100 started the first session of the week positive, hitting an intra-day high of 120,285.55, followed by selling pressure that pushed the index to an intra-day low of 119,250.68.
Later, buying returned in the final hours and helped the KSE-100 erase the earlier losses.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 119,689.63, marginally up by 40.49 points or 0.03%.
“The steady upward bias was supported by investor optimism following the release of a detailed International Monetary Fund (IMF) report, which offered a clearer picture of the country’s macroeconomic trajectory and policy direction,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.
Adding to the positive sentiment, fresh developments on resolving the circular debt issue once again made headlines, drawing investor interest to key energy and gas sector players including PPL, OGDC, PSO, SNGP, and SSGC, it added.
On the upside, heavyweights such as ENGROH, PPL, and PSO led the charge, collectively contributing 246 points to the index. On the flipside, MARI, UBL, and LUCK collectively erased 224 points from the benchmark, Topline said.
The IMF, in its latest report, has revised downward GDP growth for Pakistan to 2.6% for the outgoing fiscal year 2024-25 from the October projection of 3.2%, based on the weaker activity in the first half (H1) and broader global uncertainty.
During the previous week, the PSX experienced a strong rebound and recorded its highest week-on-week (WoW) gain in five years, following the announcement of a ceasefire between Pakistan and India, which fuelled a significant market rally. The KSE-100 surged by 12,474 points, or 11.6% week-on-week (WoW), closing at 119,649 points up from 107,174.64 points in the previous week.
Internationally, Asian shares slipped on Monday as a mixed bag of Chinese economic data showed the domestic economy was struggling even as US tariffs began to bite into exports, while the White House kept up its rhetorical pressure on trade partners.
Wall Street share futures also slipped with the dollar, while Treasury yields rose as concerns about erratic US economic policies were underlined by Moody’s downgrade of the country’s credit rating.
Unease over the United States’ $36 trillion of debt has also mounted as Republicans seek to approve a sweeping package of tax cuts, which some estimate could add $3 trillion to $5 trillion in new debt over the next decade.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent used television interviews on Sunday to dismiss the downgrade, while warning trade partners they would be hit with maximum tariffs if they did not offer deals in “good faith”.
Bessent is off to a G7 meeting this week for more talks, while US Vice President JD Vance and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met on Sunday to discuss trade.
The tariff war has weighed heavily on consumer sentiment and analysts will be scouring earnings from Home Depot and Target this week for an update on spending trends.
In markets, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.2%, with Japan’s Nikkei down 0.6%.
Chinese blue chips eased 0.4% as retail sales missed forecasts for April, while industrial output slowed but not by as much as feared.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee saw a marginal decline against the US dollar, depreciating 0.04% in the inter-bank market on Monday. At close, the local currency settled at 281.77, a loss of Re0.11 against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index decreased to 425.37 million from 572.29 million recorded in the previous close.
The value of shares declined to Rs22.27 billion from Rs29.03 billion in the previous session.
Fauji Foods Ltd was the volume leader with 60.60 million shares, followed by Cres.Star Ins. with 32.29 million shares, and At-Tahur Ltd. with 18.29 million shares.
Shares of 465 companies were traded on Monday, of which 222 registered an increase, 199 recorded a fall, while 44 remained unchanged.
