Stocks fall for third day on profit-taking

The stock market was on a losing streak for the third consecutive day as investors indulged in profit-taking on pre-budget uncertainty. Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said the market extended overnight losses on pre-budget uncertainty and reports of falling fertiliser and cement sales. Urea sales plunged 49 per cent month-on-month to 328,000 tonnes in April, hitting a three-year low. DAP sales also declined 12pc to 92,000 tonnes month-on-month. Topline Securities Ltd said the index’s decline was mainly propelled by Dawood Hercules, Engro Fertilisers, MCB Bank, Lucky Cement, and United Bank Ltd, collectively causing a drop of 210 points. On the other hand, Service Industries Ltd, Fauji Fertiliser Company, and K-Electric balanced it out by adding 97 points. As a result, the benchmark index hit an intraday high of 73,079.18 and a low of 72,358.19. However, the KSE-100 index closed at 72,601.82 points after losing 159.38 points from the preceding session.