PSX makes healthy gain as KSE 100 index increases by 537 pts

KARACHI: After a week of losses and market meltdown, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday witnessed a healthy gain of over 500 points in intra-day trading.

The benchmark KSE 100 index witnessed an upward trajectory posting an increase of 537.58 points (1.78%) and closed at 30,667.41 points. The bourse dropped below the 30,000 level but later regained before trading was suspended. The total volume of scripts also increased to 203.89 million valued at Rs7.99 billion.

Meanwhile, the lower bench KSE 30 index also witnessed a gain of 327.39 points (2.48%) and closed at 13,537.03 points. The total volume of shares was 108.89 million. The lower bench has received a battering for the last two consecutive day forcing trading to be halted at the stock market. On Thursday, the lower bench saw a staggering decline of 7.2 percent and dropped below the 12,300 level.

The stock market has been a freefall for the week.  The benchmark KSE 100 index lost over 2375 points on Monday, following by a 1067 points decline the next day. On Wednesday, the stock market declined by 2200 points. The losses narrowed on Thursday as the stock market rebounded but still saw a decline of 282 points.  This implies that the stock market has lost a staggering 5924 points within this week.

The government is considering an economic emergency bailout package within a week to address the short-to-medium term liquidity crunch to various sectors of the economy. The proposal for the bailout package includes a further cut in the key interest rate of the State Bank of Pakistan. Earlier this week, the central bank reduced rates by 75 basis points to 12.5 percent which was below market expectations.

The estimate of the economic losses will be presented to the National Security Council (NSC), which includes civil and military leadership, during its meeting next week to make a final decision. The measures would be taken to safeguard the economy against the spread of coronavirus.