Stocks snap five-session record-breaking spree
Bulls tossed the benchmark index above the 71,000 barrier for the first time in the history of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday, but the market came under selling pressure, snapping the five-day record-breaking spree amid uncertainty about the outcome of talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In the preceding session, the index scaled an all-time high on prevailing optimism about the Saudi investment package as a high-level delegation led by the kingdom’s foreign minister arrived last night to expedite the investment commitments. However, Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said the index closed in the red due to institutional profit-taking amid uncertainty over the outcome of IMF talks for a new bailout programme and mounting geopolitical tensions. He said the IMF conditions for tax policy reforms proposing excise duties on industrial units, weak global crude prices and a slump in global equities dampened investor sentiments.