Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a volatile session on Monday, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index ended the day on a flat note amid last-hour profit-taking, with investors anticipating the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision.
After a muted start, trading activity picked up at the PSX, with the KSE-100 hitting an intra-day high of 115,048.41.
However, profit-taking observed in the final hour erased all gains, and the benchmark index settled at 114,356.34, a marginal loss of 42.35 points or 0.04%.
A mixed trend was observed in key sectors, with positivity in automobile assemblers, cement, and commercial banks, while negative sentiments prevailed in the energy sector including oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refineries.
Index-heavy stocks, including HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, PSO and SSGC traded in the red.
Contrary to market expectations, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) maintained the policy rate stable at 12% on Monday.
China rolled over a $2 billion loan to Pakistan last week, the adviser to the finance minister of Pakistan, Khurram Schehzad, told Reuters.
During the previous week, investor sentiment at the PSX remained positive.
The KSE-100 rose by 1,147 points, or 1%, week-on-week, closing at 114,399 points compared to 113,250 points the previous week.
Internationally, Wall Street futures sank and the safe-haven yen and Swiss franc strengthened early on Monday as building deflationary pressures in China added to growth worries from a fading U.S. economy and an escalating global trade war.
US S&P 500 stock futures pointed 0.5% lower and Nasdaq futures sagged 0.6% as of 0137 GMT.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng eased 0.1%, as did an index of mainland Chinese blue chips.
Taiwan’s equity benchmark slipped 0.4%, although Japan’s Nikkei was 0.2% higher after flipping between small gains and losses.
Data on Sunday showed China’s consumer price index fell at the sharpest pace in 13 months in February, while producer price deflation extended to a 30th straight month.
Beijing pledged more stimulus to boost consumption and foster innovation in artificial intelligence at the start of the week-long National People’s Congress meetings that run until Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee recorded marginal decline against the US dollar, depreciating 0.04% or Re0.10 in the inter-bank market on Monday, closing a session below 280 against the greenback after more than a year.
Volume on the all-share index decreased to 324.65 million from 404.36 million recorded in the previous close.
The value of shares declined to Rs20.70 billion from Rs27.84 billion in the previous session.
Power Cement was the volume leader with 24.82 million shares, followed by Fauji Cement with 22.19 million shares, and Maple Leaf with 19.75 million shares.
Shares of 435 companies were traded on Monday, of which 194 registered an increase, 170 recorded a fall, while 71 remained unchanged.
