Stocks retreat after crossing 54,000 level

The bourse witnessed a tug of war as bullish and bearish forces battled to subdue each other on Tuesday. Topline Securities Ltd said trading started on a positive note as the momentum from a day ago propped up the benchmark index initially. However, investors chose to book profits, dragging the KSE-100 index down to the negative territory. The profit-taking ended the session on the lower side after six consecutive positive closings. Arif Habib Ltd said the index level of higher than 54,000 points was met with selling pressure as the benchmark corrected by more than 600 points in a sharp snapback in intraday trading. “Continued trade below 54,000 points can see additional consolidation following a 13 per cent gain in the last 30 days,” it said, adding that investors’ focus should remain on cement and steel stocks during the correction phase. As a result, the KSE-100 index closed at 53,735.73 points after losing 124.64 points or 0.23pc from the preceding session.