On Friday, the three-day gain streak at the stock market snapped, The last trading day if the rollover week when the KSE-100 index made an initial false start to extend the earlier day’s gains by 31 points. However, the index soon succumbed to selling pressure.
Cements, steel, fertilisers and banking stocks came under pressure. The index hit an intra-day low by 289 points, but clawed back a bit to show a loss of 205 points or 0.45 per cent and closed at 45,522.
The jitters of the smooth settlement of rollover positions kept investors cautious. On Thursday, The increase in Covid-19 cases, reached 4,368 (the highest number of cases recorded in a single day after June 21, 2020), raised concerns among investors regarding another round of lockdowns and closure of businesses and industries.
Further, it was confirmed that the proposed amendment to the Income Tax Ordinance dealing with the withdrawal of tax exemptions as a condition for the revival of IMF’s 39-month EFF arrangement for $6 billion signed on July 3, 2019, brought bad tidings – mainly for cyclical all of which saw huge sell-off. In types of cement, Cherat, DG Khan, Fauji, and Maple Leaf lost values. Banks were also down, with laggards including HBL, UBL, BAFL, and BAHL.
Waiting for the new refinery policy, shares in the Refinery sector continued their ascent. Attock Refinery hit the upper circuit while Pakistan Refinery, Byco and National Refinery scrips also saw a substantial price rise.
