Stock market remains flat despite partial reopening of economy

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) failed to make any significant gains on Thursday over subdued investor confidence despite the partial resumption of business activities in several sectors of the economy.

The benchmark KSE 100 index managed to gain only 87.27 points (0.28%) in intra-day trading and eventually closed at 31,329.46 points. The bourse observed a steep decline in the opening hours as investors dumped stocks but rebounded quickly but remained flat for the rest of the day before trading was suspended. Investors remained wary of the stock market as the top volume of shares traded reduced to 95.249 million valued at Rs4.2 billion.

The lower bench KSE 30 index dropped by 15 points (-0.11%) and dropped at 13,746.43 points. The total volume of shares was 57.228 million. The share prices of the most top active stock dropped despite the resumption of several sectors as the government eased a partial lockdown.  

The stock market has been slowly responding to the government’s directive to resume business activities in several sectors including the construction sector. This lead to increased investment in the cement sector for the second consecutive day. The stock market remains upbeat over the reaction to the opening of various sectors and industries.

There has been pressure over the reports by the IMF forecasting that Pakistan could see negative growth of 1.5 percent due to coronavirus pandemic. The World Bank had also estimated the global growth rate declining to 2.2 percent. Another report by the global lender states that Asia will not witness any positive growth this year.