PSX fails to maintain control, loses 42,000 points level

KARACHI: As the fears of the second wave of coronavirus hit the global markets badly, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) today (Tuesday) witnessed another day of selloff with investors suffering losses on the second consecutive day.

The benchmark KSE-100 index followed other Asian markets and ended the Tuesday session at 41,828.91 after a slump of 345.23 points. At one stage, the index was down by almost 500 points within 80 minutes of starting trading. However, the market managed to reduce the losses to some extent.

However, the negative trend in share markets was limited to the stocks as WTI crude, gold and silver losses shed their values by 3.6 percent, 2.1 percent and 8 percent respectively on the previous day. 

The negative sentiments can be gauged by the fact that six of the most active stocks saw their share prices going down. Hascol Petroleum Limited had 31,356,000 shares traded but there was a 3.01 percent cut in its price. 

On the other hand, Mian Textile Industries Limited, Samba Bank Limited and PICIC Insurance Limited were the three worst performers with their share prices down by 14.18 percent, 9.74 percent and 8.33 percent.

The latest losses came after the Pakistan Stock Exchange market remained static during the past week with the index losing 25.91 points as a whole. It also means the gains made by the market in September have now been reduced to 717.97 points.