Stocks’ retreat continues for third session

The uncertain economic outlook amid mounting political tensions kept the equity investors nervous. As a result, the benchmark KSE 100 index suffered losses for the third straight session on Monday. The harsh International Monetary Fund conditions attached to the $7 billion bailout and a war-like situation in the Middle East also took their toll as foreign investors continued offloading their holdings. Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said the equity market rema­ined depressed on rising political uncertainty and massive dollar outflows in the first two months of the current fiscal year. He added that the government action on indepe­ndent power producers tariff, concerns over the outcome of tax collection shortfall, and delays over pri­v­a­t­isation of state-ow­ned enterprises were other factors that contributed to the bearish close at the PSX.