KARACHI: The stock market on Monday continued its losing streak for the sixth straight day ahead of the monetary policy announcement later in the evening and persisting gloomy investor sentiments associated with challenging budgetary proposals in line with IMF conditions to secure another bailout.
Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said stocks closed under pressure amid pre-budget uncertainty and cautious activity ahead of the SBP policy rate announcement.
He mentioned that rising electricity tariffs, IMF demands for tax measures in the upcoming budget, and uncertainty regarding the rollover of $15bn Chinese IPPs loan were the main factors contributing to the bearish market close.
Topline Securities Ltd noted that equities opened the day’s session on a positive note with the KSE 100 index reaching an intraday high of 73,915 points, a gain of 161 points. However, the benchmark could not maintain this momentum due to a selling spree from a section of investors.
It attributed the selling pressure to concerns over potential tax increases on dividends, capital gains, and interest income in the upcoming budget and uncertainty surrounding the monetary policy announcement.
Hubco Power, Fauji Fertiliser Company, Meezan Bank, Oil and Gas Development Company, and Pakistan Petroleum Ltd significantly impacted the decline, subtracting 254 points from the index. In contrast, Service Industries, PSO, Systems Ltd, National Foods Ltd and Millat Tractor Ltd added 65 points.
As a result, the benchmark index settled at 73,252.56 points after shedding 501.46 points or 0.68pc on a day-on-day basis.
However, the overall trading volume plunged 37.32 per cent to 350.72 million shares. The traded value also tumbled by 49.62pc to Rs10.18bn day-on-day.
Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Pervez Ahmed Co (57.41m shares), Amtex Ltd (33.74m shares), WorldCall Telecom (31.27m shares), K-Electric (14.09m shares) and Fauji Cement (13.72m shares).
The shares registering the most significant increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Hoechst Pakistan (Rs49.02), Service Industries (Rs24.04), Premium Textile (Rs20.00), JDW Sugar Mills (Rs15.96) and Lucky Core Industries (Rs15.60).
The companies registering significant decreases in their share prices in absolute terms were Unilever Foods (Rs99.50), Sapphire Fibres (Rs90.86), PIA Holding Co (Rs54.74), Mari Petroleum (Rs35.05) and Sitara Chemical (Rs14.51).
Foreign investors turned net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $1.19m.
Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2024
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