KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday plummeted over 600 points amid ongoing political and economic uncertainty as the benchmark KSE-100 Index closed below the 40,000 level.
At the end of the session, the KSE-100 Index fell 602.7 points or 1.49% to close at 39,720.75 points.
Moreover, panic about the monetary policy announcement by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) due next week added to investors’ anxiety.
The day’s trading started with a fall, and the market continued to decline all day. The drop quickened in the second half of the session.
Selling pressure was observed across the board as index-heavy sectors like the automotive, cement, chemical, commercial banking, oil & gas exploration, and oil & gas marketing industries finished the day in the red.
Experts attributed the bearish sentiment to political uncertainty amid local government elections held on Sunday across Sindh, including Karachi and Hyderabad.
Sectors dragging the benchmark KSE-100 Index downwards included oil and gas exploration (132.04 points), technology and communication (99.54 points) and cement (63.15 points).
Volume on the all-share index fell to 105.5 million from 173.3 million on Friday. The value of shares traded fell to Rs3.2 billion from Rs4.6 billion recorded in the previous session.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 8.96 million shares, followed by Hascol with 7.84 million shares, and Lotte Chemical with 7.66 million shares.
Shares of 314 companies were traded on Monday, of which 65 registered an increase, 228 recorded a fall, and 21 remained unchanged.
