The embattled market facing an anticipated tight monetary policy, heightened government borrowing and increasing inflationary pressures saw even domestic participants reduce holdings, mainly in the high priced stocks. The benchmark remained under pressure throughout the session.
The KSE-100 index closed at 11,884.61 with the loss of 45.63 points and total volume stood at 26,692,184 while total value was 1,237,815,919. KSE-30 index lost 27.51 points to close at 11,548.07 and the All Share index closed at 8,266.97 after losing 28.85 points. A total of 96 scrips advanced, 143 declined and 105 remain unchanged out of a total of 344 scrips traded.
A relatively positive conclusion of talks with the IMF failed to placate the concerns of investors. There was a declining trend in international equity and commodity markets and the tense relation with the US compelled the local bourse to remain firmly entrenched in bearish mode with turnover relatively low and value of trade barely touching the one billion mark.
High discounts in various dividend-yielding stocks did restrict an unprecedented decline, the low quantum dampened the possibility of a greater impact with OGDC playing a significant role which helped to stabilise the intraday losses. Analysts indicate that CGT implementation has indeed pushed the turnover down the hill to low levels, so it needs to be addressed in the Federal budget by making it an at-source deductible tax for a full and final settlement of liabilities. Making filing the CGT return optional can only allow the local funds to rediscover the charm of the equity market, while any such move or even a slight rumor suggesting such change can indeed allow bourse to regain initiative. Hasnain Asghar Ali, a market analyst, said caution remains paramount with dips to be capitalised on in terms of stocks offering consistent yields.
