KARACHI: Shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange plunged on Tuesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 index dropping more than 500 points. Analysts blamed the decline on deteriorating macroeconomic data and apprehension regarding a forthcoming IMF assessment for the release of a $1.2 billion tranche.
By the end of the day, the benchmark index was down 566.79 points or 1.36% to close at 41,150.16.
The stalemate in talks between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and government played on investors’ mind and they resorted to offload their holdings.
The government announced Monday a new tariff regime on gas consumption — hiking rates up to 34pc for some industries — as it tries to meet IMF’s conditions for a successful ninth review of its $6.5 billion loan program.
Pakistan is battling an economic crisis which has seen inflation rocket up and forex reserves dwindle to critical levels.
Following a brief open in the positive zone, the KSE-100 Index began its descent in initial hour and fell steadily throughout the day.
Across-the-board selling was witnessed with index-heavy sectors including, automobile, cement, chemical, commercial banks, oil & gas exploration companies and OMCs trading in the red.
Experts attributed the decline to a lack of clarity over the resumption of the IMF program, and the deteriorating macroeconomic indicators.
Volume on the all-share index fell to 187.5 million from 192.4 million on Monday. The value of shares rose to Rs7.9 billion from Rs7.7 billion recorded in the previous session.
Sui Southern Gas Company was the volume leader with 16.1 million shares followed by WorldCall Telecom with 14.9 million shares and Oil and Gas Development Company with 12.8 million shares.
Shares of 316 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 79 registered an increase, 208 recorded a fall and 29 remained unchanged.
