KARACHI: Stock prices tumbled on Tuesday as inv­e­stors decided to book profits before the end of the coalition government’s term.

Topline Securities said investors looked for ways to ascertain whether the inco­m­ing caretaker government would keep up with the economic reforms that the outgoing government undertook after signing a $3 billion Stand-By Arran­gement with the Inter­national Monetary Fund.

In addition, a lack of clarity on the circular debt’s settlement after the last week’s meeting on the issue chaired by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar also weighed down on investor sentiments.

Arif Habib Ltd said the 48,000-point level of the KSE-100 index proved pivotal, but the expected correction was soon going to subside. “This is where knowing what and where you want to buy ahead of time is so important,” it added.

As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 47,429.83 points, down 956.42 points or 1.98 per cent from the preceding session.

The overall trading volume decreased 12pc to 336 million shares. The traded value decreased 13.6pc to Rs12.5bn on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Cnerg­yico PK Ltd (28.3m shares), Oil and Gas Development Com­pany Ltd (27.7m shares), K-Electric Ltd (24.6m shar­es), TPL Properties Ltd (21.9m shares) and World­Call Telecom Ltd (21.7m shares).

Companies registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Khyber Textile Mills Ltd (Rs55), Gatron Industries Ltd (Rs8.81), Gadoon Textile Mills Ltd (Rs7.93), Dawood Hercules Corporation Ltd (Rs7.27) and S.S. Oil Mills Ltd (Rs6.13).

Companies that recor­ded the biggest declines in their share prices in absolute terms were Sapphire Text­ile Mills Ltd (Rs87.31), Nes­tle Pakistan Ltd (Rs70.01), Mehmood Text­ile Mills Ltd (Rs52.87), Colgate-Palmo­live Pakistan Ltd (Rs36.17) and Premium Textile Mills Ltd (Rs36). Foreign investors were net buyers as they purchased shares worth $0.62m.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2023