Stocks fall after IMF’s rejoinder on budget
The shares market observed another dull session on Thursday as a stern statement by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the 2023-24 budget kept sentiments down. Topline Securities noted the global lender expressed concerns about the amnesty scheme announced in the federal budget on the pretext that it ran against the programme’s conditions. In addition, the IMF statement also referred to the government’s apparent lack of interest in broadening the tax base and addressing the liquidity issues faced by the energy sector. Arif Habib Ltd said investors opted to book profits as their participation remained sideways throughout the session. As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 41,369.17 points, down 145.28 points or 0.35 per cent from the preceding session. The overall trading volume decreased 16.7 per cent to 149.7 million shares. The traded value went down 4.2pc to $12.5m on a day-on-day basis. Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included TPL Properties Ltd (21.7m shares), WorldCall Telecom Ltd (17.5m shares), BankIslami Pakistan Ltd (9.3m shares), Pace Pakistan Ltd (8.5m shares) and TPL Properties-June (7.7m shares).