KARACHI: Marred by political upheaval and a vulnerable economic situation, shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) plunged on Tuesday as the benchmark KSE-100 Index lost 1,138 points.
The benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 39,832.45 points, down 1138.37 points or 2.78 percent.
Moving forward, the index hovered around that level, as market participants failed to find any positive triggers throughout the day, and it settled below the psychological barrier of 40,000 points for the first time since July 2022. It had earlier hit a low of 39,533.03 in intraday trading, a fall of 1,438 points or 3.5%.
Across-the-board pressure was witnessed as investors looked to offload their holdings in the face of rising political volatility and economic uncertainty in Pakistan.
The market has been under pressure for some time. Just last week, the PSX witnessed massive selling pressure as the benchmark KSE-100 Index lost over 550 points over domestic and international developments. It gained to finish higher on Friday but began this week on a negative note again.
Market analysts believe the pressure is likely to continue in the face of rising political noise along with an uncertain economic situation.
Other factors that affected the market were mutual funds’ redemptions at year-end, worsening economic situation, pressure on the rupee, shortage of dollars and the delay in the completion of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) ninth review.
It is worth mentioning, PTI Chairman Imran Khan announced on Saturday that his party’s governments in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would dissolve their assemblies on Dec 23 to pave the way for fresh elections.
The Constitution did not allow elections to be delayed beyond 90 days of an assembly’s dissolution, he had said in a video address with Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi and KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan by his side.
However, in an attempt to thwart the dissolution, a delegation of PPP and PML-N lawmakers submitted a no-confidence motion against CM Elahi in the Punjab Assembly on Monday night.
Meanwhile, sectors painting the benchmark KSE-100 index red included, technology and communication (196.76 points), banking (104.79 points) and oil and gas exploration (100.32 points).
Volume on the all-share index increased to 265.3 million from 142.6 million on Monday. The value of shares traded inched up to Rs6.54 billion from Rs3.81 billion recorded in the previous session.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 33.59 million shares, followed by K-Electric Limited with 19.98 million shares, and Hascol Petroleum Limited with 12.53 million shares.
Shares of 341 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 37 registered an increase, 283 recorded a fall, and 21 remained unchanged.
