Stocks take hammering
\nKSE-100 plunges by 1.68% to close at 41,367.11 points amid political uncertainty
\n KARACHI
\nThe stocks at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) plunged Monday as its benchmark KSE-100 lost over 700 points after uncertainty surrounded Pakistan\u2019s political arena.
\nInvestors reacted with panic to the depreciating Pakistani rupee against the US dollar and political uncertainty in the wake of the preliminary results of the by-polls in Punjab.
\nThe market opened at 42,074 points but it plunged by 707.80, or 1.68%, points to close at 41,367.11 points.
\nArif Habib Limited Head of Research Tahir Abbas told Geo.tv that \u201ca lot of ifs and buts\u201d have been created as the PTI has cracked more seats than the ruling PML-N in the Punjab Assembly by-polls.
\n\u201cFollowing the results of the by-polls, there\u2019s an uncertainty in the market on whether the federal coalition government will continue or will it announce snap polls.\u201d
\n\u201cIf early elections are announced, then it would trigger uncertainty over the International Monetary Fund\u2019s (IMF) curial programme as well,\u201d he said, pointing out that although a staff-level agreement has been reached, the global lender\u2019s Executive Board is yet to give a green signal.
\nAbbas said that one of IMF\u2019s pre-conditions was hiking the gas and electricity tariff, for which the federal cabinet is yet to give approval.
\n\u201cNow that it (PML-N) has lost its heart \u2014 Punjab \u2014 it remains unclear what it is going to do next. If the federal cabinet does not approve the hike, then the IMF programme\u2019s revival will remain in danger.\u201d
\nVoicing the same concerns as Abbas, Alpha Beta Core CEO Khurram Schehzad said that with political uncertainty taking roots again, IMF programme may get impacted.
\n\u201cHopefully […] clarity emerges soon before its late,\u201d Schehzad said.
\nIn its post-market commentary Arif Habib Limited stated that the market opened in the negative zone and remained under pressure throughout the day as investors opted for panic selling due to the rupee devaluation against US dollar.
\n\u201cThe main board volumes remained dull although hefty volumes were observed in the third-tier stocks,\u201d it noted.
\nSectors contributing to the performance included banks (-127.6 points), cement (-106.6 points), fertiliser (-106.2 points), exploration and production (-69.1 points), and technology (-67.9 points).
\nThe stocks of a total of 326 companies were traded during the day, out of which 55 were in the green, 253 red, and 18 remain unchanged.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Stocks take hammering KSE-100 plunges by 1.68% to close at 41,367.11 points amid political uncertainty KARACHI The stocks at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) plunged Monday as its benchmark KSE-100 lost over 700 points after uncertainty surrounded Pakistan\u2019s political arena. Investors reacted with panic to the depreciating Pakistani rupee against the US dollar and political […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272129,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-272110","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n