Equities falter on early termination of IPP deals

The stock market ended its six-session winning streak on Thursday as investors engaged in profit-taking towards the end of the session following the government’s termination of power purchase contracts with some Independent Power Producers (IPPs). Ahsan Mehanti Arif Habib Corporation said stocks closed under pressure amid concerns for pre-mature termination of contracts with IPPs on tariff issues and unresolved $16bn China debt reprofiling. He said the rupee instability and uncertainty over the outcome of IMF’s harsh conditions to end energy subsidies, monitoring government spending, and closure of loss-making state-owned enterprises triggered selling pressure, leading to a bearish close. Topline Securities Ltd said the KSE-100 index experienced a battle between bulls and bears today, with the bears ultimately emerging victorious.