Stocks manage modest gains in dull trading
The equities market witnessed another slow session on Thursday as the rupee continued its devaluation against the dollar. Arif Habib Ltd said the stock market traded sideways after opening in the positive zone. The rupee closed at 225.42 per dollar after shedding 0.89 per cent of its value against the US currency. The dollar has become expensive by Rs4 in the last two days alone. Economic and political unrest also kept stock investors on the sidelines. Political temperature rose after the Islamabad High Court decided to indict former prime minister Imran Khan in a contempt-of-court case as Mr Khan had earlier passed controversial remarks against an additional district and sessions judge. As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 41,824.79 points, up 58.74 points or 0.14pc from a day ago. The trading volume increased 17pc to 108.7 million shares while the traded value went up 39.1pc to $19.5m on a day-on-day basis.