PSX remains bearish for 4th session as IMF hopes dim

KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) remained bearish for the fourth consecutive session on Thursday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index losing 145.28 points (-0.35 percent) to close at 41,369.16 points.
The concerns about the revival of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme turned the market bearish. Overall, the benchmark index has shed around 436 points during the four sessions after the presentation of the 2023-24 budget.
Pakistan is at an increasing risk of failing to restart its $6.7 billion bailout programme with the IMF, putting the country closer to a sovereign default, Moody’s Investors Service said. “There are increasing risks that Pakistan may be unable to complete the IMF programme that expires at the end of June,” said Grace Lim, a sovereign analyst with the ratings company in Singapore. “Without an IMF programme, Pakistan could default, given its very weak reserves.”
IMF’s Resident Representative for Pakistan Esther Perez Ruiz said on Thursday that Pakistan’s budget for the financial year 2023-24 has missed an opportunity to broaden the tax base in a more progressive way. Esther said that the IMF team stands ready to work with the government in refining this budget ahead of its passage.
The market opened on a positive note, with the KSE-100 Index gaining over 100 points and hitting the day-high due to buying activity in the first few minutes trading amid low volumes. The indices remained in the green for the first 10 minutes only and then bears controlled the market.
The KSE-100 Index moved in a range of 370.21 points, showing an intraday high of 41,639.33 points and a low of 41,269.12 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 73.36 points (-0.26 percent) to close at 28,020.36 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index shed 60.78 points (-0.30 percent) to close at 20,560.67 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index remained 44.87 million against 40.60 million a session earlier, showing an increase of 4.27 million shares. The overall market volumes decreased by 29.96 million to 149.68 million shares against 179.64 million shares a session earlier.
Among scrips, TPLP topped the volumes with 21.69 million shares, followed by WTL (17.47 million) and BIPL (9.35 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included TPLP, WTL, BIPL, PACE and HASCOL, which formed around 43 percent of total volumes. – TLTP