KARACHI: Shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) fell sharply on Wednesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 index dropping 501.88 points, or 1.23 percent, to close at 40,376.10 points.
The current losses in the stock market were brought on by the protracted revival of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) loan program as well as the country’s continuous political unrest.
The IMF program has been put on hold due to pressure on the Shehbaz Sharif government, but due to the “severe terms” imposed by the Washington-based lender, moving forward is now all but impossible.
A total of 148,452,001 shares were traded during the day as compared to 142,804,015 shares the previous day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs. 3.917 billion against Rs. 4.177 billion on the last trading day.
As many as 337 companies transacted their shares in the stock market; 75 of them recorded gains and 234 sustained losses, whereas the share price of 28 companies remained unchanged.
The three top-trading companies were Fauji Cement with 17,487,500 shares at Rs.11.81 per share; WorldCall Telecom with 11,071,860 shares at Rs.1.21 per share and Thatta Cement with 9,211,500 shares at Rs.11.01 per share.
Sapphire Fiber witnessed a maximum increase of Rs.66.61 per share price, closing at Rs.954.79, whereas the runner-up was Pak Tobacco with an Rs.50.05 rise in its per share price to Rs.717.60.
Unilever Foods witnessed a maximum decrease of Rs.331.00 per share closing at Rs.17925.00; followed by Nestle Pakistan with Rs.180.85 decline to close at Rs.5000.15.
