The stock market started on a positive note yesterday, driven by the news of Pakistan’s successful return to the international sukuk market after a gap of nine years, accepting bids of $1 billion, against offer amounting to $2.3bn.
The KSE-100 index rose intra-day by 90 points as investors believed that the sukuk issue would have a positive impact on the country’s external account. But the index tumbled mid-day to the intra day loss of 230 points, though managing to lift itself to close at 31,270.10 points, representing day’s decline by 184.37 points. Volumes receded by 19.5pc to 198m shares, while traded value was down 27pc to Rs9.6bn.
Dealers said that investors decided to exercise caution on the back of political uncertainty, limited foreign interest and uncertainty in global stocks and commodities. FIPI witnessed net inflow of $1.76m on Thursday.
