KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) opened the new month of August on a modest note, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index recording a slight gain in early trading on Friday.
The benchmark index stood at 139,419.07, marking an increase of 28.65 points or 0.02% compared to the previous close of 139,390.42.
The market showed some movement within a relatively narrow range, touching an intraday high of 139,634.90 and a low of 138,957.70.
The mild uptick suggests investors are trading cautiously, awaiting key developments on the economic and political fronts.
A day earlier the KSE-100 Index continued with bullish trend, gaining 978.17 more points, a positive of 0.71 percent, closing at 139,390.42 points.
A total of 577,348,593 shares were traded during the day as compared to 425,836,625 shares the previous trading day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs 36.348 billion against Rs 24.999 billion on the last trading day.
As many as 483 companies transacted their shares in the stock market, 235 of them recorded gains and 215 sustained losses, whereas the share price of 33 companies remained unchanged.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves have took another hit due to external debt repayments, according to the latest weekly report issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
As per the SBP, the country’s overall forex reserves fell by $153 million, bringing the total down to $14.3039 billion.
The reserves held by commercial banks remain stable at $5.3031 billion, while the central bank’s own reserves slipped following scheduled payments.
After the latest decline, the country’s total liquid foreign reserves now stand at $19.6070 billion.
A spokesperson from the SBP said the drop was expected, as the government had to meet its external debt servicing obligations.
