Pakistan Stock Exchange dives down ahead of PM appearing before JIT
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Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) benchmark 100-index on Monday plummeted 1835 points as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was called to appear before a team investigating corruption allegations against his family.
The nation’s benchmark KSE100 Index declined 3.8 per cent at the close in Karachi, the most among 96 primary indexes tracked by Bloomberg.
Habib Bank Ltd was the leading decliner down 3.2 per cent followed by Engro Corp and Oil and Gas Development Co falling by daily 5 per cent price movement limit. It was the index’s biggest decline in almost two years.
“Political fears have taken center stage,” said Gohar Rasool, head of international sales at Intermarket Securities Ltd.
“The market has apparently lost its mojo with low volumes due to the Ramadan effect and lack of triggers,” he said, referring to the Muslim holy fasting month where trading hours are cut back.
The political turmoil is the latest hit to the nation’s stock market, which was upgraded to emerging markets status by MSCI Inc. this month.
Instead of flocking to Pakistani equities, foreign investors have continued dumping stocks worth $372 million this year, more than the entire amount of $334 million offloaded last year.
