KARACHI: Carnage was witnessed at the local bourse Thursday as well as the KSE-100 index lost 1,002 points to close at 38,301 points level while tracking losses in most of regional indices. Investors tracked down developments as at least one of the three potential investors, Pakistan GasPort, appears determined to move ahead with its plan to build the country’s third LNG regasification terminal to import more than 5.5mtpa gas for selling directly to large consumers like private power producers and industry, said Trust Securities’ analyst. He added that economic fusses were prominent and gave mixed signals as the Ministry of National Food Security and Research unveiled Rs82 billion plan for the agriculture sector, with the aim of enhanced crop yield, improved water efficiency, livestock and fisheries development, and creation of agro-markets. Aggressive sell-off was reported by local funds on expectations that liquidity will be increasingly diverted from Equity to Income / Money Market Funds, after the recent rise in Policy Rate to 10 percent. “We expect market to remain in pressure till clarity emerges on Pakistan’s entry into an International Monetary Fund (IMF) program”, said an analyst at Elixir Research, Murtaza Jafar. MCB (-4.5%), PPL (-3.1%), ENGRO (-3.0%), HBL (-2.6%) and PSO (-4.7%) were among major laggards which dragged the index down by 299 points. Volumes improved by 37 percent day-on-day (DoD), standing at 190 million shares for the day as compared to 138 million shares traded in the previous day. KEL (-2.6%), PAEL (-4.3%) and LOTCHEM (-2.4%) led the volume with 36 million shares changing hands through the day. Banking space closed lower than its previous day close where big banks dropped 193 points to the declining index. ABL (-5%), MCB, HBL, UBL (-1.9%) and NBP (-2.0%) closed in the red zone. Cement sector remained under the hammer where big players such as PIOC (-4.7%), CHCC (-2.6%), DGKC (-2.6%), FCCL (-2.1%) and LUCK (-2.1%) closed in the red zone. Exploration and Production (E&P) sector closed in the red zone as crude oil prices edged lower in international market trading at $50.44/bbl. POL (-2.8%), PPL and OGDC (-1.9%) were the major losers. An equity analyst Maaz Mulla expects bearish sentiment in the market to continue on the back of political uncertainties and concerning economic indicators. Also, potential redemptions in Mutual Funds are likely to cause further selling pressure. Published in Daily Times, December 7th 2018.