Stocks drift lower amid growing tensions

Share prices bounced within a small range throughout the session after trading began on the lower side on Tuesday. Arif Habib Ltd said investors preferred to stay cautious owing to ongoing political and economic worries. Their participation remained dull as they waited for some clarity on the revival of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme. Volumes on the mainboard of the exchange dried up while third-tier stocks continued their dominance. According to analyst Ahsan Mehanti, dismal data on foreign direct investment showing a 40 per cent fall for July-February on a year-on-year basis also dampened the investors’ mood. As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 40,877.98 points, down 40.47 points or 0.1 per cent from the preceding session. The overall trading volume decreased 26.9pc to 142.8 million shares. The traded value went down 16.5pc to $14.7m on a day-on-day basis. Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included WorldCall Telecom Ltd (6m shares), Cnergyico PK Ltd (4.8m shares), Unity Foods Ltd (4.7m shares), Pak Elektron Ltd (4.5m shares) and Hascol Petroleum Ltd (4.4m shares).