The equity market witnessed a volatile session on Friday, with the benchmark index fluctuating sharply.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Index climbed to an intraday high of 146,813.43 points, gaining 1,166.30 points, or 0.8%, while touching a low of 145,011.75 points, down 635.38 points, or 0.44%, from the previous close of 145,647.13.
Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank fell for a third consecutive week to $14.232 billion as of August 1, down $72 million from the previous week, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday. The decline was attributed to external debt repayments.
Total liquid foreign reserves dropped by $111 million to $19.496 billion, with commercial bank holdings falling $39 million to $5.264 billion.
In July, imports rose 12% month-on-month (MoM) and 29% year-on-year (YoY) to $5.4 billion, while exports increased to $2.7 billion, up 9% MoM and 17% YoY. As a result, the July trade deficit widened by 44% YoY to $2.8 billion.
On Thursday, the KSE-100 Index had closed at a record 145,647.14 points, up 558.64 points, or 0.39%, from 145,088.50 in the previous session.
The index touched a high of 146,081.03 points and a low of 145,250.18 points during that session.
This is a developing story and is being updated with more details.
