KSE-100 slumps as investors ‘resort to profit-taking’

After days of positive momentum, profit-taking was the theme of the day as the benchmark KSE-100 Index lost over 450 points during intra-day trading on Tuesday.

At 2:45pm, the benchmark index was hovering at 93,193.61, a decrease of 454.71 points or 0.49%. The KSE-100 hit an intra-day low of 92,893.11. It finished on Monday at a record high of 93,648.32.

Selling pressure was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, banking, fertilizer, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and power generation. Index-heavy stocks including HUBCO, SNGPL, OGDC, PPL, NBP and HBL traded in negative.

“Profit-taking” is being observed at the stock market, Mohammed Sohail, CEO of Topline Securities, told media.

Another analyst said the visit of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation, and the buzz over the requirement of additional taxation measures sent participants into a state of panic selling and consolidation of gains.

The stock market has maintained an upward streak in recent weeks amid positive economic indicators including a decline in policy rate and improvement in remittance flows.

Meanwhile, an IMF delegation, led by its Mission Chief Nathan Porter, held an initial meeting with Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Tuesday.

The IMF delegation arrived in Pakistan on Monday for a staff visit to discuss recent developments and the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) performance to date.

Reports indicate that measures aimed at curtailing expenditure and increasing tax collection are to be high on the agenda of the IMF-Pakistan meetings.

On Monday, the PSX’s benchmark index closed higher by 357 points as traders took a breather after the index crossed 94,000 for the first time during intra-day trading.

Internationally, Asian stocks eased while the dollar held at four-month highs on Tuesday, though all the excitement was centred on bitcoin as it soared to a record peak underpinned by investor bets on assets that are likely to benefit from Donald Trump’s election win.

Investors anticipate Trump’s second four-year term in office will bring equities-boosting tax cuts and looser regulations, lifting the world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, bitcoin, to an all-time high of $89,637.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 1%, with Taiwan shares sliding 2% and South Korean stocks 1% lower.

This is an intra-day update