Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday succumbed to the intense selling pressure despite the struggle by bulls to keep the KSE-100 index above the 42,000 mark.
Investors remained sceptical ahead of the budget announcement on Friday. Profit-taking in index-heavy sectors such as banking and technology brought the index down.
Furthermore, expectations and concerns over new proposals for the budget also barred investors from building big positions.
Earlier, the day kicked off on a positive note but soon the KSE-100 declined and maintained the downward trend as investors preferred to book profits. Resultantly, the index closed in the red.
“Stocks fell across the board on pre-budget uncertainty after government’s endeavours for an IMF-friendly budget before the IMF board review this month,” said Arif Habib Commodities CEO Ahsan Mehanti.
At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a decrease of 456.25 points, or 1.08%, and settled at 41,686.46.
Forex reserves fall by $179m to $3.9b
The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) dropped by 4.3% on a weekly basis, reaching $3.9 billion, according to data released on Thursday.
As of June 2, 2023, the SBP’s foreign currency reserves amounted to $3,912.2 million, reflecting a decrease of $179 million compared to $4,090.7 million on May 26. The decline in reserves was attributed to external debt payments.
When considering the overall liquid foreign currency reserves, including those held by banks other than the SBP, the total stood at $9,334.8 million. Among these, the net reserves held by banks amounted to $5,422.6 million.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 9th, 2023.
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