Another bearish week on stock market

Trading on the stock market commenced in the outgoing week on a negative note in reaction to the federal budget announced on June 9. Arif Habib Ltd said uncertainty over the monetary policy announcement by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) also fuelled negative sentiments. The following day, however, the stock market turned positive as the SBP kept the policy rate unchanged. However, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised objections to the budgetary numbers and sought compliance with conditions, such as bridging the financing gap, which brought the bears back to the market. In addition, Moody’s expressed reservations about Pakistan completing the IMF programme by June 30. The dollar appreciated against the greenback to close at 287.19. Additionally, the SBP-held foreign exc­hange reserves clim­bed up by $107m to $4.01bn.