Shares at PSX shed more than 500 points despite IMF deal

Published September 26, 2024
Selling pressure witnessed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday — PSX data portal
Selling pressure witnessed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday — PSX data portal

Shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday witnessed selling pressure, shedding more than 500 points.

The benchmark KSE-100 index declined by 589.95 points, 0.72 per cent, to close at 81,657.96 points from the previous close of 82,247.91 points.

However, it is important to note that the index hit a life-time high in opening trade, rising to a record high of 82,905.73 points before reversing those gains, hours after the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) board approved a long-awaited $7 billion bailout deal.

Yousuf M Farooq, director research at Chase Securities, said, “Foreign selling from FTSE rebalancing has soaked up local liquidity.”

“IMF deal was expected and built into prices,” he added.

Yesterday, the Fund’s Executive Board agreed to loan Pakistan $7 billion to bolster its faltering economy, approving a relief package that the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led government has pledged would be the last from the Fund.

Mohammed Sohail, chief executive of Topline Securities, also attributed today’s reversal to “FTSE rebalancing related selling” impacting share prices.

Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) conducts an annual review which classifies country markets as “Developed, Advanced, Emerging, Secondary Emerging or Frontier” within its global equity indices.

On July 3rd, the FTSE reclassified Pakistan from Secondary Emerging to the Frontier market, stating that the country “fails to meet the Minimum Securities Count requirement for retaining Secondary Emerging market status” —with the decision being effective from September onward.

It said the decision was based on the fact that there were “less than two eligible Pakistan constituents of the FTSE Emerging Index as of the assessment date”.

According to an Al-Habib Capital note, “The major contributors to this decline were HUBC, FFC, UBL, ILP and MARI collectively subtracting 428.91 points from the index.

“PIAHCLA was the most actively traded stock, with a volume of 36.33 million shares,” it said.


Additional input from Reuters

Follow Dawn Business on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook for insights on business, finance and tech from Pakistan and across the world.

Opinion

Disputed canal project

Disputed canal project

It seems that PP, which claims to champion the struggle for people’s democratic rights, is now only interested in protecting its own power.

Editorial

Forgotten inmates
Updated 26 Feb, 2025

Forgotten inmates

Diversion programmes are needed for minor offences and people with psychosocial disabilities should receive treatment rather than be jailed.
Controlling crypto
26 Feb, 2025

Controlling crypto

THOUGH Pakistan’s official position on cryptocurrencies has evolved considerably over the years, there still seems...
Deadly roads
26 Feb, 2025

Deadly roads

DRIVING in Karachi can be hazardous, with chaos on the roads, and very little by way of following rules and...
All out
Updated 25 Feb, 2025

All out

PAKISTAN cricket captain Mohammad Rizwan’s assessment was brutal — it could not have been any other way. At ...
Bearing the brunt
25 Feb, 2025

Bearing the brunt

FOR the past several months, we have repeatedly been told by the prime minister and his cabinet that the government...
Afghan resettlement
25 Feb, 2025

Afghan resettlement

AFGHAN refugees who fled their country after the Taliban took over in 2021, and who hoped to resettle in the West,...