KARACHI: Amid growing uncertainty about the economic outlook ahead of the budget unveiling, which has been delayed to June 12, the bearish spell continued at the stock market for the fourth consecutive session on Thursday, dragging the benchmark index below the 74,000 level.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation stated that stocks closed lower due to concerns about economic uncertainty. Investor expectations for a cautious SBP monetary policy and subdued growth impacted investor sentiment.

He said reports of likely harsh conditions in the new IMF programme, such as a hike in power tariffs and fresh taxation measures in the budget 2024-25, contributed to the bearish close.

In its market report, Topline Securities Ltd noted that equities started the session positively.

However, the index couldnot sustain the 74,000 level due to a selling spree triggered by concerns that the government may raise taxes on dividends, capital gains and interest income in the upcoming budget.

Key contributors to thedecline included Fauji Fertiliser Company, OGDC, Mari Petroleum, MCB Bank and PSO, which collectively subtracted 136 points from the index. However, Bank Alfalah, Systems Ltd, Lucky Cement, EngroCorporation and Millat Tractors attracted some buying interest, adding 65 points.

As a result, the benchmark index hit an intraday high of 74,593.33 and a low of 73,768.40. However, theKSE 100 index settled at 73,862.93 points after shedding 356.51 points or 0.48pc on a day-on-day basis.

However, the overall trading volume edged up by 1.2pc to 352.73 million shares. However, the tradedvalue tumbled 24.87pc to Rs12.87bn day-on-day.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included WorldCall Telecom (17.60m shares), Kohinoor Spinning (14.85m shares), Dewan Motors (13.69m shares), Fauji Cement (12.07m shares) and Ghani Global (11.12m shares).

The shares registering the most significant increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Hallmark Company (Rs14.98), Sapphire Textile (Rs13.26), Philip Morris (Rs9.28), Hafiz Ltd (Rs7.29) and Data Agro Ltd (Rs6.18).

The companies registering the major decreases in their share prices in absolute terms were Sazgar Engineering Works Ltd (Rs52.72), Service Ind (Rs45.50), Hoechst Pak (Rs38.33), Exide Pakistan (Rs32.11) and Rafhan Maize Products Company Ltd (Rs27.26).

Foreign investors turned net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $0.69m.