KARACHI: Pakistan equities on Thursday succumbed to pressure throughout the day owing to uncertainty on the political front and roll-over week pressure. Investors opted for selling on news that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has been granted indefinite medical leave which may end his tenure, creating doubts over continuity of current macroeconomic policies. KSE-100 Index pulled off positive in the morning but ultimately bled 326 points to close down at 40,266. Turnover in wider market remained subpar as volumes on the day were led primarily by small and mid cap names. Major dent on the benchmark KSE100-Index came from Hub Power (HUBC) and Pakistan State Oil (PSO) as both remained on sellers’ radar after government’s closure of furnace oil based power plants. Engro Corporation, losing 1.9 percent, also extended declines on reported foreign selling post removal from MSCI EM Index. Meanwhile, K-Electric, shedding 3.6 percent, hit the brakes and witnessed profit-taking after sharp gains yesterday on excitement over Shanghai Electric Power deal. “We see no change in interest rates as State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announces monetary policy for two months tomorrow while investors will continue to monitor institutional flows and developments on political front to gauge market direction. Refineries and oil marketing companies are likely to dominate the talk on the streets until clarity emerges on government’s policy on use of furnace oil,” said Elixir Securities’ analyst. Traded volume day-on-day was down 35 percent to 102 million shares; while value was up 1 percent to $51 million. The volume leader was KEL (-3.6%) making up 9m shares of all traded shares. PPL (-0.8%) OGDC (-0.3%) and POL (-0.1%) in the E&P sector closed in the red zone amid plummeting international crude oil prices as the US heads to a long thanksgiving weekend and markets await word from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on a widely expected extension of crude oil output curbs. Mixed sentiment was observed in the banking sector on anticipation of unchanged policy rate in the upcoming announcement of monetary policy. Published in Daily Times, November 24nd 2017.