KARACHI: Stock prices tumbled on Monday as investors expected higher inflation in the coming months.

Arif Habib Ltd said the prevailing economic instability coupled with the news about a blast in Peshawar plunged the benchmark of representatives shares to an intraday low of 606.14 points.

According to Topline Securities, sentiments of investors were positive when the trading session began as the government had fulfilled another condition of the International Monetary Fund by increasing the prices of petroleum products over the weekend. However, the blast in Peshawar dented the mome­ntum. Investors started worrying about the deteriorating law and order situation in the country.

As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 39,871.27 points, down 579.26 points or 1.43 per cent from the preceding session.

The overall trading volume decreased 26.6pc to 140.5 million shares. The traded value went down 25.3pc to $20.2m on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Pakistan Refinery Ltd (21.1m shares), Cnergyico PK Ltd (11.8m shares), Engro Polymer and Chemicals Ltd (6.7m shares), Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (5.1m shares) and Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (5m shares).

Sectors contributing negatively to the index performance were commercial banking (141.6 points), miscellaneous (84.7 points), fertiliser (82.5 points), technology and communication (72.4 points) and cement (67.3 points).

Companies registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Rafhan Maize Products Company Ltd (Rs614), Premium Textile Mills Ltd (Rs35), Gatron Industries Ltd (Rs22.13), Indus Motor Company Ltd (Rs20.92) and Mari Petroleum Company Ltd (Rs18.68).

Companies that recorded the biggest declines in their share prices in absolute terms were Pakistan Services Ltd (Rs165.50), Nestle Pakistan Ltd (Rs120), Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan Ltd (Rs59.33), Sapphire Textile Mills Ltd (Rs40) and Lucky Core Industries Ltd (Rs18.91).

Foreign investors were net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $0.04m.

Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2023