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.