Stocks lose 466 points on budget uncertainty
Pakistani shares experienced selling pressure on Monday as uncertainty surrounding the upcoming budgetary measures caused the benchmark KSE 100 index to turn red despite an initially positive start amid low volume. Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said the market turned bearish on reports that the huge Rs12.5 trillion proposed tax collection target for FY25 would impact industrial earnings. He added that market sentiments were also negatively affected by over-leveraging and uncertainty regarding the outcome of negotiations to repay dues to Chinese IPPs. Topline Securities Ltd said investors opted to trim their positions, causing the market to settle below 76,000 levels after an intraday high at 76,188, a gain of 204 points during the day. A relatively lacklustre momentum was witnessed during the session, fuelled by budgetary concerns and mixed IMF vibes.