Stocks falter on economic, security situation
After scaling a record peak in the overnight session, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) became bearish as news flow on political and economic fronts turned investors jittery, triggering profit-selling, forcing the benchmark KSE 100 index to close in the red on Monday. Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said stocks remained under pressure amid political uncertainty, and the IMF’s strict levies on industrial captive power plants led to institutional profit-taking. He added that subdued economic growth at 0.92pc for the July-September quarter and concerns about the outcome of critical economic reforms to qualify for the second $1bn tranche in March dampened investor sentiments.