Political uncertainty drags PSX down by nearly 200 points

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) faced a challenging start to the week as political turbulence and ongoing foreign capital outflows led the market to shed 178 points.

Despite an initial rally when the benchmark KSE-100 index reached the day’s highest at 81,321.63 points within the first hour of trading, investor confidence soon waned. Before 11 AM, the index had lost over 400 points. The decline continued until the market dropped below the 81,000 mark, hitting the day’s lowest at 80,352.22 points after midday.

Intraday update: PSX down by over 400 points

Before closing, some of these losses were reversed but the index still remained 178 points below opening.

Market analysts attributed the decline to government policies for independent power producers (IPPs), as well as concerns over a potential tax shortfall. Political uncertainty and news from the power corridors and Supreme Court also played part in reducing investor confidence in the market.

Trading volumes were also lower at 297.99 million shares compared to Friday’s 339.3 million, with a total trading value of Rs 14.1 billion.