KARACHI: The Pakistan stock market started the day on a positive note to celebrate the resumption of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme with the approval of the 6th tranche of $1 billion. However, profit-taking was witnessed in the second half, dragging the market down to close in the red, dealers said.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said that the stocks closed lower, amid thin trade on investors’ concerns over $28.8 billion trade deficit for July-January 2022, widening 92 per cent; and cement sector’s local dispatches, as well as exports falling 16 per cent and 21 per cent in January 2022, respectively.

“The political noise, fall in the global crude oil prices and uncertainty over the IMF support for EFF beyond quota played a catalytic role in the negative close.”

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares Index shed 0.56 per cent, or 256.22 points, to close at 45,862.93 points. The KSE-30 shares index shed 0.63 per cent, or 114.26 points, to close at 17,954.96 points.

As many as 369 scrips were active, of which 133 advanced, 207 declined and 29 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 328 million shares, compared with the turnover of 360.8 million shares in the last trading session.

An analyst at Pearl Securities said the trade deficit declined 30 per cent on sequential basis, adding a positive sentiment to the market.

“Likewise, the share volumes are picking up, showing the return of investors’ confidence in the market.”

Going forward, the analysts expect the market to remain positive and suggest investors to avail any dip as an opportunity.

The companies, which reflected the highest gains included Bata Pakistan, up Rs50 to close at Rs2,050/share; and Sapphire Fiber, up Rs49.87 to close at Rs881.45/share.

The companies that reflected the most losses included Pakistan Services, down Rs131.84 to close at Rs1,626.06/share; and Siemens Pakistan down Rs33.88 to close at Rs605.07/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in WorldCall Telecom with a turnover of 32.82 million shares. The scrip gained four paisas to close at Rs2.33/share; followed by Telecard Limited with a turnover of 20.3 million shares. It shed 97 paisas to close at Rs17.45/share. Ghani Global remained the third with a turnover of 16.8 million shares. It shed 47 paisas to finish at Rs22.24/share.