Stocks fall 348 points on policy rate rise expectations

Stocks fall 348 points on policy rate rise expectations

KARACHI: The stocks fell by 348 points on Wednesday amid expectations of a rise in the key policy rate and high inflation. The benchmark KSE-100 index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended at 46,194 points from the previous day’s closing of 46,542 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that bearish momentum was witnessed today as aggressive tightening of 100 basis points expected in the upcoming Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) announcement.

With mounting inflationary expectations and rising secondary market yields, across-the-board sell-off was observed just after the opening bell of the market mainly led by the cement, steel, and technology stocks.

Accumulation was witnessed in the banking stocks as investors opted for a cautious approach. In the last trading hour, value hunting was seen by the institutional buyers.

Sectors contributing to the performance include Cements (-135.74 points), Technology & Comm. (-84.04 points), E&Ps (-34.05 points) and OMCs (-31.42 points).

Volumes decreased from 243.19 million shares to 238.49 million shares (-1.9 per cent DoD). Traded value also decreased by -2.9 per cent to reach US$ 58.3 million as against US$ 60.0 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include SERF, TRG, GGL, TPLP and MERITR2.