KARACHI: Equities fell for the fourth successive trading session on Monday, with the Karachi Stock Exchange`s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index losing 124.09 points (0.37 per cent) to close at 33,732.91.

Traded volumes slumped 21pc to 144 million shares, while traded value rose 4pc to Rs6.2 billion, signifying shift in investors` interest to big-cap stocks.

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`In a nutshell, things are expected to be in limbo forsome time to come,` said analysts at brokerage Intermarket Securities. OnMonday foreigners bought stocks worth a minor $0.21m.

But mood had not dark-ened at several brokerage houses. `The local bourse continued its sluggish performance as the latest monetary policy statement contained no positive news,` said dealers at Topline Securities.

Investors were said to have offloaded cement sector stocks amid speculation of an increase in Federal Excise Duty (FED) or imposition of Special Excise Duty (SED) in order to generate additional tax revenue in the current nscal year.

MLCF, DGKC, FCCL and LUCK fell by 0.9 tol.9pc.

One major brokerage firm blamed the dullness on the oil and gas sector to 2pc decline in Brent oil.

However, analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp stated that stocks closed lower amid cautious activity on falling global crude prices and status quo in the SBP policy announcement on Saturday.