Business

Bulls stage comeback at PSX on Ishaq Dar’s cues

Published

2 years ago

Farwa

Investors cheer Dar’s assurance Pakistan will not seek debt restructuring from Paris club.
Benchmark KSE-100 index traded between hope and despair.
Investors kept a close watch on SBP’s decision on monetary policy.

KARACHI: The bulls staged a comeback at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday cheering Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s assurance that Pakistan will not seek debt restructuring from the Paris club.

Constant assurance from the top leadership that Pakistan will not seek debt restructuring from Paris Club creditor nations enticed market participants.

Moreover, Dar dismissed market rumours that the government might extend maturities for its bonds, saying that the country will fulfil all multilateral, international and bond obligations.

The benchmark KSE-100 index traded between hope and despair, which eventually let loose the bulls, who pulled the bourse into the green.

Investors kept a close watch on the State Bank of Pakistan’s decision on the monetary policy — which was later kept unchanged at 15% for the next seven weeks.

The KSE-100 index gained since the morning bell rang, but some dips were seen at regular intervals. The downtrend turned steeper at midday bulls managed to regain control.

The benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 42,211.64 points with an increase of 126.39 points or 0.30%.

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

Topline Securities in its post-market commentary noted that the KSE-100 index largely traded in the positive zone due to Dar’s statement regarding Pakistan not planning to seek a debt restructuring.

Shares of 336 companies were traded during the session. At the close of trading, 161 scrips closed in the green, 149 in the red, and 26 remained unchanged.

Overall trading volumes declined to 240.19 million shares compared with Friday’s tally of 313.34 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs10.53 billion.

Worldcall Telecom was the volume leader with 31.15 million shares traded, gaining Rs0.03 to close at Rs1.63. It was followed by Pak Elektron with 27.14 million shares traded, gaining Rs1.21 to close at Rs17.45 and TRG Pakistan with 26.74 million shares gaining Rs7.29 to close at Rs151.43.

Business

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

Published

1 day 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

1 day 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

1 day 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.