After initial buying momentum, profit-taking was observed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding nearly 800 points during the opening hours of trading on Wednesday.
At 10:40am, the benchmark index was hovering at 164,723.15, a decrease of 770.43 points or 0.47%.
Selling pressure was observed in key sectors including cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, ARL, HUBCO, SNGPL, SSGC, MCB, NBP, UBL and DGKC, traded in the red.
In a key development, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday sought progress on streamlining the National Finance Commission (NFC) process, a key sticking point in the resource-distribution mechanism between the Centre and provinces, official sources revealed to media.
The finance ministry and the visiting IMF mission continued the technical discussions under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) as part of the ongoing second review of the $7 billion programme and the first review of the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).
On Tuesday, the PSX closed on a bullish note as across-the-board buying lifted the indices to fresh highs. The benchmark KSE-100 index gained 1,645.90 points, or 1%, to settle at 165,493.59.
Globally, Wall Street futures slipped, gold struck a record high and Asian stocks wavered on Wednesday, as the deadline passed for a US government shutdown that is expected to delay the release of crucial jobs data and muddy the interest rate outlook.
With no clear path out of the impasse, agencies warned that the government shutdown would halt the release of a closely watched September employment report, opens new tab and lead to the furlough of 750,000 federal workers at a daily cost of $400 million.
Both S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures dropped 0.5%. Gold prices climbed to $3,875 an ounce, hitting a record high for third straight session. European futures were little changed.
On Wednesday, Japan’s Nikkei dropped over 1%, after an 11% surge the previous quarter. South Korean shares rose 0.6%, adding to the 11.5% gain in the last quarter, after data showed its exports rose at the fastest pace in 14 months in September.
This is an intra-day update
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