Stocks flat amid circular debt talks with IMF

Share prices moved within a narrow range on Wednesday before closing flat on mixed signals on the economic front. Topline Securities said the benchmark index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange floated within a band of 580 points throughout trading hours. Some support for share prices came on the back of media reports about the first formal contact between the caretaker government and the International Monetary Fund on the issue of the circular debt management plan. Furthermore, Bank AL Habib Ltd declared an interim dividend of Rs4.50 per share, which proved better than market expectations. However, banking, technology and cement sectors exerted negative pressure on share prices, pulling the index down. Arif Habib Ltd said the KSE-100 index can possibly drop further, but the current level is where investors should start buying for the next advance towards 50,000 points. As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 47,418.63 points, unchanged from the preceding session.