Political turmoil around Punjab by-polls, CM\u2019s election instilled panic in investors\u2019 minds
\n KARACHI
\nThe Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) remained in the grip of selling pressure on Thursday as the KSE-100 index plunged over 600 points in a tumultuous session.
\nPolitical turmoil around Punjab by-polls and the chief minister\u2019s election has instilled panic in investors\u2019 minds, motivating them to sell off their holdings.
\nThe benchmark KSE-100 index remained on a downward trajectory since the trading began with no positive triggers as stocks faced selling pressure across the board.
\nAccording to Arif Habib Limited, the KSE-100 index decreased by 1.55% day-on-day which is the lowest level since November 23, 2020. It further added that the index has declined by 4.1% since the start of the fiscal year 2022-23 and 10.7% since the start of the calendar year 2022.
\nPakistani rupee continued to fall \u2014 plunging to an all-time low of 226.81 against the US dollar in the interbank market \u2014 which also forced the investors to stay on the sidelines as rupee-dollar parity continued to dampen sentiments.
\nAt close, the benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 39,831.75 points with a decline of 627.95 points or 1.55%.
\nA report from Arif Habib Limited stated that the benchmark KSE-100 index witnessed a bloodbath session today due to economic and inflationary concerns along with rupee depreciation against the US dollar.
\n\u201cThe market opened in the positive zone but investors opted for selling which dragged the index to an intraday low of 658.49 points,\u201d the brokerage house noted.
\nMeanwhile, it stated that volumes continued to remain dull across the board on the contrary decent volumes were observed in the third-tier stocks.
\nSectors contributing to the performance included fertiliser (-100 points), banks (-91.2 points), exploration and production (-78.8 points), cement (-60.9 points), and chemical (-45.4 points).
\nShares of 333 companies were traded during the session. At the close of trading, 40 scrips closed in the green, 269 in the red, and 24 remained unchanged.
\nOverall trading volumes rose to 157.99 million shares compared with Wednesday\u2019s tally of 141.74 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs4.28 billion.
\nWorldCall Limited was the volume leader with 16 million shares traded, losing Rs0.06 to close at Rs1.21. It was followed by TPL Properties with 11.87 million shares traded, losing Rs1.31 to close at Rs16.25 and Unity Foods with 10.04 million shares traded, losing Rs1.35 to close at Rs16.72.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Political turmoil around Punjab by-polls, CM\u2019s election instilled panic in investors\u2019 minds KARACHI The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) remained in the grip of selling pressure on Thursday as the KSE-100 index plunged over 600 points in a tumultuous session. Political turmoil around Punjab by-polls and the chief minister\u2019s election has instilled panic in investors\u2019 minds, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232057,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-272609","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n