Stocks stay flat on lack of triggers
KARACHI: After strong gains of 2.6 per cent a day earlier, the stocks consolidated on Wednesday as the absence of triggers failed to further fuel the rally. The KSE-100 index edged higher by 27.43 points (0.06pc) and closed at 42,772.25 after oscillating widely between the intraday high and low by 316 and 68 points.
After midday, profit-booking was seen where investors reduced their positions. The failure of the government and the opposition to reach consensus on a caretaker set-up dampened investor sentiments who were also concerned over ugly incidents and statements that seemed to taint the political atmosphere.
The heavy selling by foreign investors of equity worth 11.8m on Tuesday also spooked investors, even though the outflow slowed down to $0.73m.
Analyst Ahsan Mehanti commented that scrips closed modestly higher on strong valuations amid cautious activity ahead of monetary policy announcement on May 25. Moody’s expectation on rupee fall, auto assemblers’ worries over sales drop from non-filers, easing global crude oil prices and concerns for surging current account deficit invited mid-session pressure.