Stock market hikes, then falls to a stable level

KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) posted a successful morning on Wednesday crossing the 67,000 psychological mark briefly, before falling down close to yesterday’s levels.

The benchmark KSE-100 index began the trading week on a bearish note, after posting notable gains for the better part of the outgoing week. Monday morning saw the index grow past 66,500 points for a brief time but then plunged down by 367 points to hover around 65,855.71 points by 10:30 a.m. During the day the index recovered most of the losses, but still closed 200 points below opening.

On Tuesday, the index turned positive again. By the afternoon, the index had posted 428 points, up from 66,012.32 points to hover around 66,440.56 points by noon.

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Wednesday saw the share market quickly accumulate gains to hover around 67,093.96 points, within half an hour of opening at 66,426.78 points. However, the hike was short-lived and the market gradually fell back to 66,480.81 points by 11 a.m. Overall, the index remained marginally positive over opening stage.

The growth in the index came from myriad segments, showing an overall improvement in investor confidence. Nearly 300 million shares traded hands within two hours of trading.

The share market has been following the general economic climate in the country, on the back of lower energy prices and expectations of IMF’s approval of next tranche. Central bank’s announcement to keep the policy rate unchanged also lent strength to investor confidence. The sudden shock witnessed on Monday could be attributed to profit taking.