Stocks falter on eve of SCO summit

On the eve of the Shanghai Coope­ration Organisation (SCO) summit, the stock market came under selling pressure on Monday, pushing the KSE 100 index to close in the red amid a host of depressants, mainly the PTI’s protest plan. Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said equities closed under pressure on political noise and foreign outflows. He added that the government action on IPP payments on tariff issues, concerns for the outcome of IMF pressure of reforms over agriculture, textile sector tax breaks, and delays over privatisation of state-owned enterprises also contributed to the bearish close. Topline Securities Ltd said the index could not sustain a bullish opening as investors opted to book profits influenced by an expected downward revision of earnings for Hub Power Company, which declined by 9.15pc following the early termination of a Power Purchase Agreement with the government,