KARACHI: On the eve of the IMF executive board`s meeting to approve the first tranche of the $7 billion new bailout for Pakistan, equities experienced continuous selling pressure, extending overnight losses due to rising political uncert ainty.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said stocks closed under pressure amid political noise and a weak rupee.

He said that the government`s decision to review and terminate power purchasing agreements with the independent power producers over capacity payment issues, surging circular debt and concerns over likely further action on banks for manipulation of dollar rates for the opening of letters of credit contributed to the bearish close.

In its review, Topline Securities said the downward drift was primarilydriven by profit-taking, particularly in key stocks such as Hub Power and Engro Fertiliser, which reshaped the market sentiment.

A broad sell-off in Hub Power, Engro Fertiliser,MCB Bank, Pakistan Petroleum, and Bank Alfalah dragged the index down by 400 points.

Despite an early rally, the benchmark index extended overnightlosses,hitting an intraday loss of 743 points. However, the benchmark index settled at81,483.64 aftershedding 366.86 points or 0.45pc day-on-day.

The trading volume fell7.66pc to 369.62 million shares, while the traded value declined 8.71pc to Rs17.06bn day-on-day.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included WorldCallTelecom (39.35m shares), Pace (Pak) Ltd (22.58m shares), Hub Power Co (21.24m shares), PIA Holding Company (19.95m shares) and Fauji Fertiliser Bin Q asim (14.96m shares).

The shares registering the most significant increases in their prices in absolute terms were Ismail Industries Ltd (Rs146.54), Rafhan Maize Products Company Ltd (Rs57.50), Sazgar Engineering Works Ltd (Rs25.02), Hallmark Company Ltd (Rs18.31) and Haleon Pakistan Ltd (Rs13.27).

The companies that suffered major losses in their share prices in absolute terms were Nestle Pakistan (Rs52.05), Service Industries Ltd (Rs36.23), Fateh Industries Ltd (Rs18.94), Al-Abbas Sugar Mills Ltd (Rs17.30) and ColgatePalmolive (Pakistan) Ltd (Rs15.48).

Foreign investors remained net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $1.11 million.