Karachi stocks land in red as traders saw no big rate cut

KARACHI: Stocks closed lower on Friday as investors booked profits after speculation that there would not be a high cut in interest rates.
The central bank announced its monetary policy decision today with 0.5 percent interest rate cut to 10.00 percent from the previous 10.50 percent.
The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) benchmark 100-share index ended 0.32 percent, or 49.80 points, lower at 15,739.16 on total volume of 145.84 million shares.
"The issue is that there was some speculation at the end of the stock market that this would not be a significant cut. This is why the market was not able to sustain the sentiment it was getting in the last few sessions. People were expecting more," said a broker. (Reuters)