KARACHI
\nThe Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed tepid trading in the outgoing week as Moody\u2019s rating kept market participants mostly on the sidelines.
\nMoody\u2019s decision, fluctuating rupee-dollar parity, and dwindling foreign exchange reserves played on investors\u2019 minds during the week. Resultantly, the KSE-100 index declined 137 points or 0.3% to end the week at 41,948.50 points.
\nThe market commenced the week on a positive note as investors\u2019 interest revived on optimism that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) would maintain a status quo in its monetary policy announcement.
\nInvestors\u2019 interest was also fuelled by a statement from Finance Minister Ishaq Dar that Pakistan would not seek debt restructuring from the Paris Club and would meet all multi-lateral and international payment obligations.
\nThe stock market, however, reversed the trend on Tuesday as investors opted for profit-booking owing to political and economic uncertainty.
\nThe market extended losses as selling pressure continued to dominate as investors remained concerned over Moody\u2019s downgrading five of Pakistan\u2019s major banks. Investors took a cautious stance and resorted to value buying which led to some recovery during Wednesday\u2019s session.
\nThe bourse bounced back on Thursday and cushioned the dip amid renewed interest in selected stocks of the technology sector.
\nThe index reversed its direction once again on the last trading session as a lack of positive triggers kept market players away from healthy participation, providing bears with an opportunity to dominate most of the trading session.
\nOther major developments during the week were: PSO wins arbitration case against Gunvor over LNG payments, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 2,434 new firms in September, gas condensate discovered in Sanghar, inflation rate at 19.9%, IMF projected 3.5% growth for 2023.
\nMeanwhile, foreign buying continued this week, clocking in at $12.3 million against a net buy of $4.7 million recorded last week. Buying was witnessed in technology ($12.4 million), power (0.8 million), and cement ($0.3 million).
\nOn the domestic front, major selling was reported by broker proprietary trading ($4.8 million), followed by companies\u2019 finance institutions ($4 million).
\nDuring the week under review, average volumes clocked in at 267 million shares (down by 39% week-on-week), while the average value traded settled at $44 million (down by 7% week-on-week).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KARACHI The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed tepid trading in the outgoing week as Moody\u2019s rating kept market participants mostly on the sidelines. Moody\u2019s decision, fluctuating rupee-dollar parity, and dwindling foreign exchange reserves played on investors\u2019 minds during the week. Resultantly, the KSE-100 index declined 137 points or 0.3% to end the week at 41,948.50 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-289588","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n