Pakistan stocks decline on foreign selling; India, Dubai stocks also down

Pakistan stocks closed under pressure on political uncertainty and foreign outflows.

The government’s plan action on power producers’ tariff dented market sentiments. Hubco closed 4.3% down.

Concerns over outcome of tax collection shortfall and delays over privatization of SOEs played a catalyst role in bearish close.

The KSE-100 index lost 0.22% or 177.93 points to close at 81,114.20 points.

Indian stocks took quite a hit on Monday. This steep drop was mainly fueled by heavyweights like Reliance Industries and big names in the IT and financial sectors.

Analysts say foreign institutional investors have been shifting their focus to China, thanks to its recent economic stimulus measures. This move was a big reason behind today's dip in the market.

Geopolitical tensions, uncertainty surrounding key US data, and US Federal Reserve Chairperson Jerome Powell's speech added to the mix.

India’s BSE 100 Index shed 1.26% or 348.85 points to close at 27,338.60 points.

The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) General Index shed 0.39% or 17.78 points to close at 4,503.48 points.

Commodities

Crude oil edged lower at the start of the week despite intensified attacks by Israel on Lebanon over the weekend. Overall, expectations are that oil prices should get a lift this week, with Chinese measures boosting the demand for oil in the region.

On Monday, Bloomberg reported that the amount of crude oil held around the world on tankers that have been stationary for at least seven days rose to 60.76 million barrels as of September 27, which is 27% lower than a year ago and could point to a pickup in demand.

Brent crude prices fell 0.32% to $71.37 per barrel.

Gold prices eased on Monday but remained near last week’s record highs.

Gold’s rally has been driven by safe-haven demand, fueled by rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, the Federal Reserve’s recent interest rate cut, and concerns about the economy.

Gold prices could continue to benefit from market expectations of another 50-basis-point rate cut this year.

International gold prices declined 0.83% reaching $2,641.76 per ounce. In Pakistan, gold prices declined by PKR 500 to PKR 275,500/tola on Monday.

Currency

US dollar gained some ground against PKR, up 0.02% in the inter-bank market. Pakistani currency settled at 277.63, a loss of eight paisas against the US dollar. In the open market USD was trading at PKR 280.