The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed the week in negative territory as investors opted for profit-taking after several days of steady gains.
On Friday, the benchmark KSE-100 Index dropped 264.34 points, or 0.18%, to settle at 145,382.79, down from Thursday’s close of 145,647.13. Earlier in the session, the index surged to an intraday high of 146,813.43, gaining 1,166.30 points, before slipping to a low of 144,917.18.
Samiullah Tariq, Head of Research at Pak-Kuwait Investment Company, linked the decline to market behavior, saying, “The market was continuously increasing for some days.”
Read More: PSX hits record high on strong earnings and investor confidence
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves saw a third straight weekly drop. According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), reserves held by the central bank stood at $14.232 billion as of August 1, down $72 million from the previous week due to external debt repayments.
Total liquid foreign reserves fell by $111 million to $19.496 billion, with commercial bank holdings decreasing $39 million to $5.264 billion.
Trade data for July also painted a mixed picture. Imports rose 12% month-on-month (MoM) and 29% year-on-year (YoY) to $5.4 billion, while exports climbed 9% MoM and 17% YoY to $2.7 billion. However, the trade deficit widened 44% YoY to $2.8 billion.
