Concerns among stock market investors in Karachi, triggered by the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) presentation of an 11-point agenda to the government, resulted in a day of significant volatility on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) today, the first day of the business week. Blue-chip stocks experienced persistent selling pressure throughout the trading session.

The market initially opened on a positive note, with the benchmark KSE-100 index surging by over 600 points at one juncture, successfully breaching the psychological barrier of 120,200 points. However, the stringent conditions reportedly associated with the IMF’s agenda gradually eroded investor confidence. This led to a reversal of the initial gains, causing the index to retreat from the 120,000 level and fluctuate around the 119,000 mark for the remainder of the day’s trading. During intraday trading, the index also dipped into negative territory, falling by over 400 points at one stage.

The day’s trading saw the KSE-100 index reach a high of 120,285 points and a low of 119,250 points. Overall, trading activity was recorded in the shares of 465 companies. Of these, 222 companies witnessed an increase in their share prices, 199 experienced a decline, while the share prices of 44 companies remained stable.

After a day of considerable swings, the KSE-100 index ultimately closed with a marginal gain of 40.49 points at 119,689 points. Other indices, however, showed mixed results. The KSE-30 index closed down by 36.41 points at 36,564.76 points, while the KMI-30 index gained 67.91 points to close at 180,576.96 points. The All Share Index also closed lower, shedding 20.99 points to settle at 74,188.26 points.

The total trading volume today stood at 425.37 million shares, with a total traded value of PKR 22.27 billion. Market capitalization witnessed a slight increase, reaching PKR 14,392 billion. The investors’ cautious reaction to the IMF’s agenda highlights the market’s sensitivity to macroeconomic developments and the conditions associated with potential financial assistance.