Skip to main content

PSX remains under pressure as shares lose nearly 1.500 points

Bears maintained their hold on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday as shares lost nearly 1,500 points.

The benchmark KSE-100 index declined by 1,489.96 points, or 1.31 per cent, to close at 112,030.36 points from the previous close of 113,520.32.

Yousuf M. Farooq, director research at Chase Securities, said, “The market opened under pressure today following a news report yesterday in which the petroleum minister stated that Rs82 billion from the profits of state-owned companies would be used to shield consumers from rising gas costs.”

He said the remarks “raised concerns among market participants that the government may revert to using state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to appease the public, echoing past practices”.

However, he believed “that such an action may not be legally feasible”.

Moreover, Farooq said that the market appeared to be “taking a breather” after witnessing a significant rally from October to December last year, adding that such corrections were normal.

“Nonetheless, the petroleum minister’s remarks have added to investor caution,” he added.

Awais Ashraf, director research at AKD Securities, noted that investors were concerned over the Trump administration’s decision to suspend aid being provided by the United States to Pakistan.

Last week, the US, the world’s biggest donor, froze virtually all foreign aid, making exceptions only for emergency food, and military funding for Israel and Egypt.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent an internal memo days after President Donald Trump took office vowing an “America First” policy of tightly restricting assistance overseas.

“However, this issue is not exclusive to Pakistan but extends to all countries,” Ashraf highlighted, adding that that was not going much of an “impact on our balance of payments as — unlike in the past — US grants now represent only a small fraction of external funding for FY25”.

He highlighted that the total grants allocated for the Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) amounted to just $176 million, which represented 1pc of the total external funding target of $19.34 billion.

“Interestingly, Pakistan received $38.3 million in grants from the US during the first five months of FY25,” he said, adding that this exceeded the budgeted $21m for the full year.

He added: “Furthermore, there are no allocations for bilateral loans from the US in FY25.”

Meanwhile, Mohammed Sohail, chief executive of Topline Securities, attributed the bearish momentum to January’s rollover and lower-than-expected results putting pressure on the market.

Yesterday, despite str­ong anticipation of a sixth straight cut in the interest rate at the monetary policy review meeting, stocks had witnessed a roller-coaster session mainly due to political instability, a hike in gas tariffs and disappointing corporate results.

The Economic Coordina­tion Committee’s decision to increase the gas tariff by almost 17pc for captive po­­wer plants was noted to be the key dep­ressant. This move drew a strong reaction from the ex­­­port-oriented players, es­­pecially the textile sector, saying this move would hurt the country’s export competitiveness in the regional and international markets.

More to follow



from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/R5ZXioY
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Republican primary race for president in 2024

The Republican primary race for president in 2024 is already shaping up to be a competitive one. There are a number of high-profile candidates who have already announced their intention to run, and more are expected to join the field in the coming months. The frontrunner for the nomination is former President Donald Trump. Trump has been teasing a 2024 run for months, and he has a large and loyal following among Republican voters. However, he is also a polarizing figure, and his candidacy could alienate some moderate Republicans. Another potential contender for the nomination is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. DeSantis has been praised by many conservatives for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and his opposition to vaccine mandates. He is also seen as a rising star in the Republican Party. Other potential candidates include former Vice President Mike Pence, former Ambassador Nikki Haley, and Senator Tim Scott. Pence is a more traditional Republican who could appeal to moderate vote...
1 comment
Read more

Ministers rubbish notion that proposed retirement age extension to favour ‘one particular institution’

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday rubbished the notion that a proposed extension in the retirement age was to favour “one particular institution”, adding that the move would be implemented across the board if approved. The rebuttal comes in the wake of media reports claiming that the government was mulling changes to the Constitution to fix the tenure of the chief justice . Currently, judges of the Supreme Court, including the chief justice, retire after attaining the age of superannuation, i.e. 65 years, as stipulated in Article 179 of the Constitution. While giving his opinion recently on the reports of the constitutional amendment, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar had said he “will not vehemently turn down the proposals related to the tenure of the chief justice”. Addressing the issue during a press conference in Islamabad today along since Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and the law minister, Attaullah said the extension in the retirement age was “a proposal to a...
Post a Comment
Read more

In noisy NA session, Bilawal endorses PTI’s call for judicial inquiry into May 9 riots

In his maiden speech during a session of the newly elected National Assembly, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Monday endorsed the PTI’s call for a judicial inquiry into the May 9 riots. He passed these remarks in reference to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur’s recent call for the formation of a judicial commission to probe the violent protests that erupted across the country following PTI founder Imran Khan’s arrest on May 9 last year. “I call upon the chief justice Supreme Court of Pakistan (Justice Qaez Faiz Isa) to form [a judicial commission] and see who are the beneficiaries [of May 9],” Gandapur had said in a fiery speech after being elected the chief executive of KP. Speaking on the floor of the lower house of the Parliament today, Bilawal said he endorsed Gandapur’s demand. But at the same time, he stated that the result should be accepted by everyone, including the Imran-led party. “It is not possible that someone attacks our institution and th...
Post a Comment
Read more