PSX falls amid futures rollover, rate cut concerns

Stocks at Pakistan's bourse closed lower on Wednesday, driven by selling pressure due to rollover of futures' contracts and concerns over a cautious policy rate cut by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). Analysts cited rupee instability, political uncertainty and doubts over ability to meet the International Monetary Fund (IMF) tax collection targets, as factors behind bearish activity. As a result, the KSE-100 index largely traded in the negative zone and registered a decline of 543 points. Fauji Fertiliser Company's lower-than-expected 4Q2024 results were a major contributor to the sluggish activity, with key sectors such as fertiliser and energy contributing significantly to the market's downward movement. Analysts observed that the index needed to regain its momentum within the 112-115k range to alleviate the risk of further downtrend. Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corp commented that stocks closed lower amid selling pressure in futures contract rollover and worries over the cautious SBP policy rate cut.