PSX jittery early on Thursday; PKR climbs unfettered

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) opened Thursday’s trading session at 111,935.38 points, and it seemed like the market will recover yesterday’s losses. However, the market failed to continue with strength.

The benchmark KSE-100 index started the session with an instant hike of 118 points, and then for a few minutes continued the climb to touch the highest of the morning at 112,234.15 points. Minutes into trading, the market turned the tide and fell steeply by 426.33 points to hover around 111,509.05 points.

Last trading session on Tuesday had seen a similar trend. It started on a bullish note, with 350 points gains followed by a consistent increase upwards. Within an hour, the index had jumped 899 points to hover around 113,644.54 points. By noon, the bears took over and around 2 PM, the benchmark KSE-100 index had fallen down to 111,967.67 points, showing a decline of 777.34 points.

The market had been showing fluctuations lately owing to the mixed economic indicators. On one hand, the latest inflation data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) and the decreased policy rate by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) are lending strength to the investor sentiment. On the other hand, continued judicial turmoil and political uncertainty are causing the investors to be wary.

PKR CONTINUES ITS FLIGHT

Meanwhile, the Pakistani Rupee continues to appreciate against the US Dollar. As of Thursday morning, the PKR-USD parity fell by 6 paisa in interbank market, said the Exchange Companies Association.

PKR was seen trading at Rs278.90 against the greenback, today morning.