KARACHI: Stocks remained subdued for the second day with the KSE-100 index declining by 152 points, or 0.31 per cent, to close at 48,481 on Wednesday.
Market analysts were generally groping for reasons to explain the fall despite an incentive-laden, market-friendly budget. “Lack of fresh triggers” was a handy reason. But the group of 20 countries, representing the world’s biggest economies, which suspended Pakistan’s debt payments of $3.17bn till the end of this year should have brightened up investors’ mood.
Moreover, expectations ran high on a favourable decision of Pakistan at the FATF’s Plenary Session starting June 21 since the country has implemented 26 of the 27 points of the FATF Action Plan. While the Covid flames were leaping across the borders, Karachi’s positivity rate also subsided to 9.52pc for the period June-9-15, ruling out the need for a partial lockdown as it stood below the baseline of 10pc. The acceleration in vaccination drive was also relief to the local investors.
On the negative side, little was known about the negotiations between Pakistan and IMF which ended without consensus over upcoming tranche. Market watchers said that the ongoing squabbling between the government and the opposition members in the National Assembly in the ongoing budget session raised concerns over the timely and orderly passage of the budget document.
The market opened on a positive note and the index ran up to intraday high by 246 points in early trade. But share prices started to decline leaving early buyers with big losses on their hands. The index intraday hit low of 201 points.
Investor participation decreased represented by drop in volumes by 24pc over the earlier day to 937m shares. KEL with 115m shares traded, was volume leader. Sector-wise performance was textile (25 points), cement (-54 points), banks (-33 points), chemical (-24 points), fertilizer (-17 points) and pharma (-16 points). The major scrips that dragged down the index included Engro Corp (-21 points), PPL (-17 points), COLG (-14 points), KEL (-14 points), and DGKC (-13 points).
Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2021
Dear visitor, the comments section is undergoing an overhaul and will return soon.