KARACHI: The stock market witnessed a bear session on Monday owing to the investors` concerns over inflation and the growth rate as the flood-related losses continue to mount.

Arif Habib Ltd said the market opened in the positive zone but profit-taking followed soon. Dull volumes were recorded in mainboard stocks while heft volumes took place in third-tier shares.

The government expects economic growth rate of 2.3 per cent for 2022-23 as the estimated losses caused by the unprecedented are $9.3 billion.

Moreover, a depreciating rupee also dampened the investors` sentiments. The rupee shed 0.4pc to close at 219.86 against the greenback.

According to JS Global, rising concerns over the economic impact of the floods coupled with a lack of posi-tive triggers kept investors away from market participation. `Going forward, we recommend investors should stay cautious as the negative market sentiment is likely to continue,` it added.The KSE-100 index settled at 41,859.30 points, down 449.81 points or 1.06pcpc from a day ago.

The trading volume decreased 2.1pc to 156.8 million shares while the tradedvalue went down 5.7pc to $19.9m on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included WorldCall Telecom Ltd (14.84mshares), Pakistan Refinery Ltd (12.79m shares), Hascol Petroleum Ltd (12.27m shares), Cnergyico PK Ltd (8.44m shares) and K-Electric Ltd (6.09m shares).Sectors that contributed negatively to the index performance were banking (-68.1 points), technology (-67.1 points), cement (-56.3 points), fertiliser (-48 points) and power (-38.2 points).

Companies registering the biggest increase in their share prices in absolute terms were Premium Textile Mills Ltd (Rs54), Mehmood Textile Mills Ltd (Rs40), Bhanero Textile Mills Ltd (Rs32.15), Sapphire Textile Mills Ltd (Rs29.71) and Shield Corporation Ltd (Rs20.29).

Shares that declined the most in rupee terms were Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan Ltd (Rs85.99), ColgatePalmolive Pakistan Ltd (Rs56.96), The Thal Industries Corporation Ltd (Rs19.87), Al-Abbas Sugar Mills Ltd (Rs17.90) and Siemens Pakistan Engineering Ltd (Rs16.33).

Foreign investors remained net buyers as they purchased shares worth $0.12m.