The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed lower on Monday as cautious investor sentiment ahead of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision led to profit-taking across key sectors. The benchmark KSE-100 Index fell by 1,140.32 points, or 0.7%, to settle at 162,163.81.
During intraday trading, the index touched a low of 161,766.61, with heavy selling pressure observed in the energy and manufacturing sectors. Major contributors to the decline included PSO, LUCK, UBL, MARI, and PPL, which collectively reduced the index by 505 points.
The MPC of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) decided on Monday to keep the policy rate unchanged at 11%, in line with market expectations.
The PSX had ended the previous week on a subdued note, losing 0.3% week-on-week to close at 163,304 points, as investor optimism over easing geopolitical tensions was offset by weak banking sector results and profit-taking.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee gained Re0.01 against the US dollar in the inter-bank market, closing at 281.01, according to the SBP.
Trading volume on the all-share index fell to 1,006 million shares from 1,041 million a session earlier, while the value of shares traded declined to Rs34.82 billion from Rs35.02 billion.
WorldCall Telecom led trading with 164.29 million shares, followed by K-Electric Ltd with 123.43 million shares and Bank of Punjab with 61.77 million shares. Out of 479 companies traded, 157 advanced, 277 declined, and 45 remained unchanged.
