Bears tightened their grip on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday as the benchmark KSE-100 index lost over 1,500 points, or nearly 2% during intraday trading.
According to the PSX website, the market opened with a downward trend, with the benchmark index declining by 771.87 points at 9:45 am, bringing the index down to 79,346.02 points. At 12:45 pm, the KSE-100 Index fell to 78,678.27 level, a decrease of 1658.15 points or 2.07%.
Key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, chemical, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, and OMCs, witnessed across-the-board selling. Major stocks such as OGDC, PPL, PSO, SHEL, SSGC, HBL, MCB, and NBP traded in the negative.
At day’s close, the benchmark index settled at 78,539.18 points, down by 1578.71 or 1.97% from the previous close of 80,117.89 on Friday.
Market experts attributed the decline to rising political uncertainty, with the ruling coalition considering a ban on the opposition party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Islamabad Police arrested PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Information Secretary Raoof Hassan on Monday in a raid on the party’s secretariat without disclosing details of the charges against them
Last week, the PSX saw a mixed trend. The market began on a bullish note following a staff-level agreement with the IMF, reaching new levels. However, heavy selling in the final trading session erased most of the gains. Overall, the KSE-100 index closed the week with a gain of 173 points or 0.22%, finishing at 80,117 points on Friday.
Brokerage firm AKD Research warned in its note on Friday that escalating political tensions could dent investors’ sentiment. Meanwhile, market participants’ focus would remain on upcoming corporate results, inflation figures, and the next MPC meeting.
