A weekly review: Stocks lose 1223 points, US dollar gained Rs3.06 in interbank market
Earlier this week, the gold hit a historic all-time high of Rs81,500 per tola.
KARACHI (Dunya News) – In the trading sessions of the outgoing week, the rupee further lost its strength, Pakistan’s stock market lost more than 1,200 points and the gold witnessed a significant surge in its price.
A rising trend in demand of US dollars was observed by importers and the greenback gained Rs3.06 against the rupee in the interbank market, and closed at Rs160.05 on Friday.
On Thursday, the dollar gained by Rs1.89 as compared to Wednesday’s rate and hit all-time high at Rs164.05 in the interbank market. In the open market, it reached Rs164.25.
Overall in the week, the greenback gained Rs4.55 and was being traded at Rs161.75 in the open market.
On the other hand of the economic front, the stock market remained highly volatile in the trading sessions of the outgoing week and closed at 33,901 points after losing 1223 points, restricted by economic and political uncertainty – until restoration of some confidence when the budget 2019-20 for the upcoming fiscal year got passed by the National Assembly.
In total, investors lost Rs176 billion due to absence of positive triggers. Despite of this, foreign investors bought shares worth $7.9 million.
Until Friday, the KSE-100 index continued to fluctuate sharply over uncertainty in passing of the budget.
Furthermore, the price of gold in the local market saw a significant surge of Rs1,500 per tola during the outgoing week, and hit Rs79,600, primarily due to spiking rate of US dollar and the gold prices in the international market.
Spot gold prices surpassed the key psychological $1,400 level earlier this week to reach $1,411 per ounce for the first time in many years.
It hit a historic all-time high of Rs81,500 per tola.
Gold is often considered a safe haven in times of political and economic uncertainty.
With input from Reuters
