Stocks falter after Moody’s downgrade

The stock market witnessed a mixed trading session on Friday as investors chose to hold back during the opening hours. Arif Habib Ltd said the index initially dropped 168.46 points after Moody’s Investor Services lowered Pakistan’s sovereign credit rating by one notch. Inves­tors opted for booking profits after trading resumed in the green zone during the second half, leading the benchmark to close in the red zone. It said the main-board volumes remained decent as a result of the rupee’s newfound strength versus the dollar over the last many sessions. JS Global said investors should look for buying opp­ortunities in construction and export-oriented sectors. The government promised it’d provide subsidised electricity at Rs19.99 a unit to the export-oriented industries a day ago. As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 42,085.25 points, down 75.32 points or 0.18 per cent from the preceding session.