Share slide on tax fears

Renewed worries clip 1pc off KSE; volumes less by 76mn shares.

KARACHI: Share prices at Karachi stock market slumped by nearly 1 per cent on Monday, as renewed fears over taxation issues clipped the gains made in earlier trade.
The benchmark KSE 100-Index dropped 66 points - 0.91 per cent to close at 7,210 points.
"Selling activity witnessed as uncertainty loomed over taxation on capital market and brokerage services," said Ahsan Mehanti, CEO Shehzad Chamdia Securities. He added that investors remained on sidelines as various rumors regarding imposition of GST on brokerage services, CVT raise on capital markets affected market sentiment negatively.
KSE 30-Index fell by 86 points, 1.1 per cent to close at 7,776 points and KSE all-share index lost 46 points, 0.89 per cent to close at 5,170 points.
Trading started marginally positive (16 points plus), following which it showed mild volatility giving number of visits to the both territories. 100-Index marked an intraday high of 7,326 points (+ve 50 points) in early trade, amid reports of select buying by foreign investors. However some pressure was witnessed around midday mainly due to pre-budget worries over taxation. The index finally close a just a bit higher from its day low of 7,195 points (-ve 81 points). Dealers say foreign investors availed this opportunity, as despite a negative closing, there was net buying of $5 million by the foreign investors during the day, as according to NCCPL data.
Volumes saw a significant decline, as nearly 113 million shares were traded during the day - down 76 million from a turnover of around 189 million shares on Friday.
Bears took a major lead over bulls as out of total 307 active issues, 205 declined and 90 advanced while 12 issues remained unchanged.