Bears dominate market on lack of triggers
Volatility persisted on the stock market as bears tightened their grip, forcing the benchmark index to post losses for the third straight day on Tuesday amid wild fluctuations triggered by uncertainty. Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation stated that the market was trending lower as the earnings season neared closing. Reports of the IMF board meeting scheduled for Aug 28 missing the agenda for $7 billion loan approval and uncertainty over sourcing the $3-$5bn gap fuelled concerns about the country’s capacity to meet external debt financing requirements. “Political uncertainty, surging imports, uncertainty over IMF approval on taxes, power subsidies played a catalyst role in bearish close,” he added. Topline Securities Ltd said an inexplicable selling spree in the latter half of the session threw the benchmark index below 77,500, where value-hunters rescued the market by doing some cherry-picking.