Banks pull index down for third day
KARACHI: Stocks extended losses for the third consecutive session on Tuesday with the KSE-100 index declining by 169.63 points (0.41 per cent) to close at 41,564.42.
The three-session loss accumulated to 434 points as investors continued to fret over political uncertainty and economic slowdown.
Sentiment remained on the back-burner as dearth of market-moving triggers and concerns on politics, economy and foreign selling kept market participants away. Analysts said that the worries over the external account situation as well as political noise due to upcoming elections are keeping the market under pressure.
Commercial banks and oil and gas exploration companies remained major decliners which together wiped off 86 points from the index. On the economic front, the positive news flow was the statement by caretaker minister for information and broadcasting that over Rs100 billion have been generated so far from the tax amnesty scheme while more inflows were expected.