Stocks plunge 409 points on interest rate hike reports

KARACHI: Pakistan stocks plunged by 409 points on Friday on rumors of interest rate increase in the upcoming policy statement.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 44,840 points from previous closing of 45,249 points, showing a decline of 409 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market opened in the red zone after week long Eid holidays.

Investor remained sideline due to rupee parity against US Dollar and rumors of policy rate hike in the upcoming monetary policy.

Volumes remained dull throughout the day as profit selling was witnessed across the board, on the contrary hefty volumes were observed in 3^rd tier stocks.

Analysts at Topline Securities said that during the trading hours, selling trend has been witnessed across the board as investors are still looking forward towards the concrete news flow regarding financial support from the recently visited friendly countries and resumption of IMF program.

Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (-85.5 points), Cement (-81.5 points), Technology (-71.4 points), and E&P (-49.1 points).

Volumes decreased from 223.8 million shares to 189.5 million shares (-15.3 per cent DoD). Average traded value increased by 1.4 per cent to reach US$ 30.3 million as against US$ 29.9 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included SMB, UNITY, CNERGY, PRL and PAEL.