KARACHI: Shares trading began on a positive note in the outgoing week but uncertainty soon took charge of the bourse owing to political concerns, according to Arif Habib Ltd.

The rupee lost value against the greenback and dropped 0.13 per cent on a week-on-week basis to close at 223.94. In addition, the current account deficit declined 68pc year-on-year primarily due to a drop in imports, which went down 23pc.

As a result, the benchmark index closed at 42,937 points after gaining 206 points from a week ago.

Sector-wise, positive contributions came from technology and communications (202 points), fertiliser (114 points), exploration and production (26 points), banking (26 points) and miscellaneous (17 points).

According to AKD Securities, the stock market is expected to remain range-bound in the near future. The increase of 100 basis points in the policy rate will likely dampen the outlook for the equity market.

The stock market could face further pressure by political uncertainty emanating from the continuing long march by the main opposition party. “We prefer IT stocks and advise clients to stay cautious while building new positions in the market,” it added.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2022