first Ramadan session
\n\u201cVolumes are lacklustre due to the first Ramadan day and generally lower activity,\u201d says expert
\n karachi
\nThe bourse fell on Thursday as continuous foreign selling and weak corporate results kept sentiment fragile, while thinner participation on the first day of Ramadan saw slower trade after the previous session\u2019s sharp rebound.
\nThe Pakistan Stock Exchange\u2019s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Index settled at 172,170.29 points, down 6,682.80 points, or 3.74%, from 178,853.09.
\nThe index traded between an intraday high of 179,279.74 (up 426.65 points, or 0.24%) and a low of 171,647.33 (down 7,205.76 points, or 4.03%).
\nMohammed Sohail, CEO of Topline Securities, cited \u201ccontinuous foreign selling and weak corporate results\u201d as causes for the bearish trend.
\n\u201cToday the volumes are lacklustre due to the 1st Ramadan day and generally lower activity. The sharp rise yesterday is seeing some profit taking today and likely to continue depending on the quality of results,\u201d said AAH Soomro, an independent investment and economic analyst.
\n\u201cCurrent Account data has paused the correction phase,\u201d he added.
\nForeign direct investment (FDI) in 7MFY26 (July\u2013January) fell 41% year-on-year to $981.4 million, central bank data showed. Net FDI stood at $173 million in January, reversing a $135 million net outflow in the previous month, while cross-border investments were down 25.5% from a year earlier.
\nChina remained the largest investor, though net Chinese investment declined to $495.5 million from $857.1 million a year earlier.
\nSector-wise, power inflows fell to $541.8 million from $890.3 million, while telecoms posted outflows of $442.7 million, as compared to $79.6 million outflows last year. Financial businesses attracted $460 million, up from $432.4 million.
\nIn Wednesday\u2019s market Treasury bills auction, the government raised Rs651 billion (realised value), with yields mixed, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
\nThe one-month cut-off eased 5 bps to 10.1482%, while the three-month rose 9 bps to 10.2853%, the six-month increased 12 bps to 10.4437%, and the 12-month climbed 20 bps to 10.5996%.
\nThe government raised Rs677 billion (face value) against a Rs450 billion target and Rs448 billion maturities, with participation of Rs1.265 trillion.
\nInflation, meanwhile, edged up to 5.8% in January from 5.6% a month earlier, while the SBP last month kept its benchmark policy rate unchanged at 10.5%.
\nThe KSE-100 surged 5,702.68 points (3.29%) to 178,853.10 from 173,150.42, trading between 178,974.17 and 174,328.61 in the previous session on Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
first Ramadan session \u201cVolumes are lacklustre due to the first Ramadan day and generally lower activity,\u201d says expert karachi The bourse fell on Thursday as continuous foreign selling and weak corporate results kept sentiment fragile, while thinner participation on the first day of Ramadan saw slower trade after the previous session\u2019s sharp rebound. The Pakistan […]<\/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-532314","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n