The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a range-bound session on Friday, with its benchmark KSE-100 Index swayed in both directions before closing the day nearly flat.
The KSE-100 Index witnessed selling pressure in the initial hours, followed by a buying spree that pushed the index to an intra-day high of 119,542.52.
However, selling returned in the latter hours that led to the KSE-100 to an intra-day low of 118,665.26.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 119,102.67, marginally lower by 50.37 points or 0.04%.
Top positive contribution to the index acme from ENGROH, ATRL, PKGP, MEBL and PSEL, as they cumulatively 280 points to the index. On the other hand, top negative contribution to the index came from FFC, MCB, SYS, MARI, PPL, HBL, HUBC and EFERT, as they lost value to weigh down on the index by 257 points, brokerage house Topline Securities said in its-post market report.
Analysts said investors were actively selling shares amid uncertainty about what the government would announce in the upcoming federal budget on June 10.
On Thursday, the PSX closed lower as investors adopted a cautious stance amid uncertainty surrounding the outcome of IMF-driven new taxes in the upcoming budget. The benchmark KSE-100 Index lost 778 points or 0.65%, closing at 119,153 points.
Internationally, Asian shares made some tentative gains on Friday as beaten-down Treasuries found buyers after US President Donald Trump’s tax bill narrowly passed the lower house, although debt worries still lingered.
Overnight, PMI data around the globe showed US business activity picked up pace in May, which helped Wall Street rise earlier in the session before running into selling pressures and closing the day largely flat. In contrast, disappointingly weak activity in Europe dragged shares there lower.
Nasdaq futures and S&P 500 futures both were flat.
The Republican-controlled US House voted by a slim margin to pass Trump’s tax cut bill, which would fulfil many of his campaign pledges, but will increase the $36.2 trillion US debt pile by $3.8 trillion over the next decade.
Treasury yields, especially at the longer-dated end, have climbed on worries about US fiscal health in the run-up to the passage of the bill. That was exacerbated by the decision from Moody’s last week to downgrade the U.S. credit rating, citing rising debt.
The 30-year bonds, however, did manage to find some buyers overnight, with prices now at some attractive levels. Their yields fell another 1 basis point to 5.037% on Friday, having dropped 4 bps to pull away from a 19-month top of 5.161% earlier in the session.
The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inched up 0.1% on Friday, but for the week, it is still set for a loss of 0.4% after five weeks of gains.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee saw slight improvement against the US dollar, appreciating 0.03% in the inter-bank market on Friday. At close, the local currency settled at 281.97, a gain of Re0.09 against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index decreased to 338.00 million from 589.77 million recorded in the previous close.
The value of shares declined to Rs18.51 billion from Rs30.81 billion in the previous session.
Big Bird Foods Ltd was the volume leader with 32.68 million shares, followed by WorldCall Telecom with 19.36 million shares, and Descon Oxychem with 16.05 million shares.
Shares of 459 companies were traded on Friday, of which 183 registered an increase, 232 recorded a fall, while 44 remained unchanged.
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