Stocks shed 83 points on rising political noise

Stocks shed 83 points on rising political noise

KARACHI: Pakistan stocks ended down by 83 points on Wednesday due to rising political noise following audio leak related to cypher.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended at 41,435 points from previous day’s closing of 41,518 points, showing a decline of 83 points.

READ MORE: Stocks gain 367 points amid clarity on political ground

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the benchmark KSE-100 index witnessed a bullish trend today as the index traded in green zone for most of the session.

The PSX opened in the positive zone although in the last trading hour investors opted for profit taking as political noise built up.

READ MORE: Stocks climb 531 points over PKR recovery

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Wednesday confirmed the authenticity of the audio leak – featuring him and his principal secretary at the time, Azam Khan – and said that it is “a good thing” thing that the conversation was leaked, adding that the diplomatic cypher they were discussing should also be released to the public.

The ousted premier talked to media personnel at the Punjab House after an audio clip between the two PTI leaders surfaced online earlier today, wherein they were discussing the diplomatic cypher.

READ MORE: Weekly Review: Stocks may return to positive

Volumes continued to remain decent in the main board, on the flip side hefty volumes were witnessed in the 3rd tier stocks.

Sectors contributing to the performance include Technology (-57.3 points), Fertilizer (-30.1 points), E&Ps (-24.6 points), Engineering (-7.1 points) and Automobile Assemblers (-7.1 points).

READ MORE: Pakistan stocks plunge by 308 points on profit taking

Volumes decreased from 230.7 million shares to 220.6 million shares (-4.4 per cent DoD). The average traded value also decreased by 16.6 per cent to US$ 34.6 million as against US$ 41.5 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes are TPLP, CNERGY, KEL, GGL and PRL.