Pakistan stocks close in red amid US travel advisory rumours

KARACHI: Pakistan stocks witnessed volatility on Monday, closing 11 points lower amid rumours that the United States may change its travel advisory for India and Pakistan, impacting investor sentiment, analysts said.

The benchmark KSE-100 index closed slightly negative, down 11 points or 0.01 per cent, at 114,102.24. The total market value stood at PKR 30.68 billion with 539 million shares traded.

“Despite no escalation on either side, tensions remain high, and rumours of the US revising its travel advisories for India and Pakistan are dampening market sentiment,” Mohammad Rizwan, Director at Chase Securities, told Hum News English.

The index remained volatile throughout the session, plunging by as much as 1,036 points during early trade. However, it staged a strong recovery in the second half, mainly supported by the cement sector, as investors anticipated a potential interest rate cut in the monetary policy announcement later in the day, according to Topline Securities.

“The benchmark index closed relatively flat as investors adopted a wait-and-see approach ahead of the MPC meeting,” stated Ismail Iqbal Securities.

Commercial Banks, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies, and Power Generation & Distribution were among the top laggards, collectively dragging the index down by 452 points.

The recovery was largely led by key stocks such as FFC, DGKC, FCCL, POIC, and MLCF, which together added around 276 points to the index.

Investor participation remained healthy, with 398 million shares traded and a total turnover of Rs 19 billion. POWER led the volume chart once again, with 41 million shares changing hands.