The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) crashed on Monday as the KSE-100 Index fell 579.26 points following an explosion at a Peshawar mosque that left 32 dead and 150 injured.
By the end of the session, the KSE-100 Index was down 579.26 points or 1.43% to trade at 39,871.27.
Amid worsening law and order situation, experts also blamed other factors, including the rupee’s depreciation and the hike in petrol prices which would increase inflation in the coming months and lead to further hikes in the interest rate, for stock market’s downward trend.
Last week, the government removed an unofficial cap on the USD-PKR exchange rate, after which the local currency plunged to a record low. Separately, it also announced a Rs35 jump in petrol prices.
Moreover, market players are also worried about the impending trip to Pakistan by an IMF group and the anticipated mini budget, which is expected to burden the average person.
Following an upward open, the market remained range-bound for most part of the day. However, the KSE-100 plunged as news of the blast made the headlines.
Index-heavy automobile, cement, banks, oil and fertilizer sectors turned into a sea of red.
Sectors driving the benchmark KSE-100 Index lower included banking (141.62 points) and fertilizer (82.54 points).
Volume on the all-share index fell to 140.5 million from 191.3 million on Friday. The value of shares plummeted to Rs5.5 billion from Rs7.1 billion recorded in the previous session.
Pak Refinery was the volume leader with 21.1 million shares, followed by Cnergyico PK with 11.8 million shares and Engro Polymer with 6.7 million shares.
Shares of 314 companies were traded on Monday, of which 80 registered an increase, 210 recorded a fall and 24 remained unchanged.
