Stocks falter in post-budget session
Share prices moved in both directions on Monday as most analysts termed the federal budget announced last Friday a “neutral to negative” event for the Pakistan Stock Exchange. Topline Securities said the stock market initiated the week on a mixed note where the benchmark index of representative shares made an intraday high of 125 points or 0.3 per cent. However, banks, exploration and production firms and fertiliser companies saw some selling pressure given that there was little to celebrate for them in the 2023-24 budget. This led the KSE-100 index to drop to an intraday low of 189 points or 0.45pc subsequently. Arif Habib Ltd said investor activity remained sluggish for most of the day while third-tier scrips led the volume board. As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 41,782.93 points, down 121.28 points or 0.29 per cent from the preceding session. The overall trading volume increased 8.7pc to 179.1 million shares. The traded value went up 6.3pc to $19.3m on a day-on-day basis.