Stocks fall below 46,000 level in cautious trade
Equities settled on the lower side after a directionless trading session on Monday. Topline Securities said the benchmark index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange oscillated within a small range of 496 points during the trading hours before settling in the red territory. Market sentiments were dull as investors opted to stay cautious throughout the day. However, energy sector stocks remained in the limelight in anticipation of a hike in the gas tariff. Arif Habib Ltd highlighted the not-so-encouraging start of the week as the benchmark couldn’t maintain its 46,000-point level on the first day of trading. Meanwhile, the rupee’s purple patch continued on Monday with the local currency gaining 0.6 per cent against the dollar to close at 301.25. As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 45,865.73 points, down 147.76 points or 0.32pc from the preceding session. The overall trading volume increased 42.5pc to 213.2 million shares. The traded value increased 47.6pc to Rs8.2bn on a day-on-day basis. Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Bank Alfalah Ltd (59.3m shares), K-Electric Ltd (14.6m shares), Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (11.6m shares), Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd (9.6m shares) and Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Ltd (7.9m shares).