Stocks drift lower on economic concerns

Low participation from investors led to a lacklustre session on the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Wednesday. Analysts said stock prices came under pressure because of a press report about a $4.5 billion external financing shortfall. Arif Habib Ltd said the benchmark index showed an inability to sustain the 46,000-point level. The key event during the trading session was the result announcement by Pakistan Petroleum, which declared an annual profit of Rs97.9 billion, up 83pc from a year ago, in addition to a dividend per share of Rs2.50. While the company’s earnings hit an all-time high, the pay-out remained below expectations, said the brokerage. “We recommend investors should avail any downside as an opportunity to buy cement, technology and exploration and production sectors,” said JS Global. As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 45,889.58 points, down 20.89 points or 0.05 per cent from the preceding session.