Business

Trading volumes drop to 20-month low at PSX

Published

2 years ago

Farwa

Political unrest, rupee depreciation add to woes of local investors.
KSE-100 index sheds 286.44 points to settle at 43,366.89.
Shares of 334 companies were traded during the session.

KARACHI: Trading volumes at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) dropped to a 20-month low on Monday with 115 million shares changing hands during the trading session.

Overall trading volumes declined to 115.11 million shares compared with Friday’s tally of 149.29 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs3.64 billion.

The lacklustre performance at the bourse was witnessed due to rising political unrest in the country in the wake of a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Moreover, the depreciation of the Pakistani rupee against the US dollar — which dropped to an all-time low of Rs178.98 — coupled with rising commodity prices in the international market added fuel to the downtrend.

Investor interest was mostly witnessed in the fertiliser sector over increasing urea prices where Engro Fertiliser, Fauji Fertiliser and Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim closed on a higher note

At the close, the benchmark KSE-100 index shed 286.44 points, or 0.66%, to settle at 43,366.89 points.

Benchmark KSE-100 index intra-day trading curve. — PSX data portal

Arif Habib Limited in its post-market commentary noted that a range-bound session was observed today due to political unrest.

“The market opened in the green zone and stayed volatile throughout the day,” it said, adding that mainboard activity remained dull.

On the flip-side, activity continued to remain side-ways as the market witnessed hefty volumes in the third-tier stocks. The brokerage house stated that in the last trading hour, across the board selling was witnessed which led the index to close in the red zone.

Sectors contributing to the performance included exploration and production (-57.7 points), banks (-56.7 points), cement (-56.5 points), technology (-52.2 points) and power (-29 points).

Shares of 334 companies were traded during the session. At the close of trading, 79 scrips closed in the green, 242 in the red, and 13 remained unchanged.

Flying Cement was the volume leader with 11.6 million shares traded, losing Rs0.10 to close at Rs0.16. It was followed by Pak Elektron with 8.14 million shares traded, gaining Rs0.18 to close at Rs2, and Ghani Global Holdings with 7.02 million shares traded, losing Rs0.64 to close at Rs14.68.

Business

There are US$13,280.5 million in foreign exchange reserves in Pakistan.

Published

3 days ago

Farwa

According to a representative for the central bank, as of April 19, 2024, the nation’s total liquid foreign reserves were valued at US$ 13,280.5 million. A loss of US$74 million left the State Bank of Pakistan’s foreign reserves at US$7,981.2 million.

Commercial banks have $5,299.3 million in reserves for Pakistan.

In the week that concluded on April 12, the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) foreign exchange reserves increased by $14.4 million to $8.055 billion.

“In a weekly statement, SBP stated that it has repaid US$ 1 billion in principal and interest on Pakistan’s International Bond, which matures this week.”

But at $13.374 billion, the nation’s total reserves decreased by $68 million. In the same way, commercial banks’ reserves dropped to $5.319 billion, a reduction of $82 million.

Business

NIMA seminar to increase Pakistan’s ship recycling industry’s capacity

Published

3 days ago

Farwa

According to a release, important players from a range of maritime industries attended the conference to discuss issues facing the shipping sector.

It further stated that the symposium cleared the path for the resurgence of a sustainable future in ship recycling.

Participants in the conference included representatives of the Gadani Ship Breaking Labour Union, PSBA, KS&EW, KPT, PMSA, GEMS, and the federal and Balochistani governments.

Furthermore, global perspectives and ideas were offered by international specialists such as Rabia Razzaque from UN-ILO and Professor Raphael Baumler from the World Maritime University.

The seminar emphasized Pakistan’s capacity to emerge as a pioneer in the field of environmentally friendly ship recycling.

In order to protect the environment and the safety of employees, the participants emphasized the importance of following international standards and regulations.

During his speech, Chief Guest Senator Nisar Ahmed Khoro emphasized the importance of the maritime industry’s resurgence and the crucial necessity for coordinated efforts from all parties involved.

A new age of economic prosperity, worker safety, and environmental responsibility for Pakistan’s maritime industry was called for as he urged the stakeholders to work together on a comprehensive SENSREC program.

Vice Admiral Ahmed Saeed (Retd), the president of NIMA, emphasized the significance of environmental stewardship and safety in ship recycling procedures.

Business

Inflows into the Roshan Digital Account surged to $7.660 billion on March 24.

Published

3 days ago

Farwa

According to the data, remittance inflows for the month of March totaled US$ 182 million, whereas they were US$ 141 million in February and US$ 142 million in January 2024.

Millions of Non-Resident Pakistanis (NRPs), including those who own Non-Resident Pakistan Origin Cards (POCs), can now engage in banking, payment, and investing activities in Pakistan with the help of these accounts, which offer cutting-edge banking solutions.

According to a statement from the State Bank of Pakistan, the number of accounts registered under the program increased by 11,091 from 668,701 accounts in February 2024 to 679,792 accounts in March 2024.

As of March 2024, the central bank reported that foreign nationals of Pakistan have invested US $312 million in Naya Pakistan Certificates, US $528 million in Naya Pakistan Islamic Certificates, and US $31 million in Roshan Equity Investment.

It is important to note that former prime minister Imran Khan introduced the Roshan Digital Account initiative in September 2020 with the goal of giving Pakistanis living abroad access to digital banking services for the first time.