Stocks close below 67,000 on profit-taking

Extending the overnight losses, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) remained under selling pressure dragging the benchmark KSE 100-share index below the 67,000 level on Monday. Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said a slowdown in GDP growth to 1pc in the second quarter of the current fiscal year compared to 2.2pc in the same period last year worried investors who resorted to taking profits at the current levels. He said that the widening of the trade deficit by 56.3pc year-on-year to $2.171bn in March, speculations about the outcome of Pakistan-IMF talks on April 14, and investor concerns about surging industrial power tariffs further fuelled the market downtrend. Topline Securities Ltd said throughout the session, the index displayed a mixed performance, hitting intraday highs and lows at 67,304 and 66,741 points, respectively. Oil & gas, IT, textile and cement sectors contributed negatively to the index’s movement as Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd, Systems Ltd, PTCL, Lucky Cement and Interloop Ltd collectively wiped out 133 points.