Stock Market Round up

Byline: SHABBIR H. KAZMI The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has increased the policy rate by 50bps to 13% on Saturday. The decision came after taking into account factors pertinent to the fiscal account imbalances, lower than expected inflows from external sources and weak revenue generation capacity. It expects meeting fiscal account deficit target of 4% a difficult task. The decision is based on the need to further consolidate the demand while the stated factors are likely to add to supply side issues. The decision to increase the policy rate would hamper the recent positive trend at the local bourses and can see a short term pressure on stock prices for highly leveraged companies belonging to cement, select fertilizer and textile sectors