Pakistan stocks observe bloodbath session amid political uncertainty

Pakistan stocks observe bloodbath session amid political uncertainty

KARACHI: Pakistan stocks on Friday observed bloodbath session and lost 462 points owing to rising political uncertainty.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) fell to 41,140 points from previous day’s closing of 41,602 points, showing a decline of 462 points.

READ MORE: Pakistan stocks end up 63 points in range bound trading

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the PSX witnessed a bloodbath session during the day. As the prevailing political clamor pushed KSE-100 to plunge by 488 points in an intraday low.

Imran Khan, the chief of Pakistan Tehreek I Insaaf (PTI), started long march towards Islamabad on Friday with an aim to remove the existing government through obtaining date of fresh elections.

READ MORE: Pakistan stocks plummet on long march announcement

The market remained under pressure throughout the day as investors opted to stay on the sideline during both sessions. Volumes in the mainboard declined whereas as decent volumes were recorded in the 3rd tier stocks.

Sectors contributing to the performance include Cement (-74.6 points), E&P’s (-74.3 points), Technology & Communication (-66.7 points), Oil & Gas Marketing Companies (-46.8 points) and Power Generation & Distribution (-39.8 points).

READ MORE: Pakistan equities end down 157 points amid profit taking

Volumes decreased from 203.5 million shares to 177.8 million shares (-12.7 per cent DoD). The average traded value also decreased by -27.2 per cent to USD 20.9 million as against USD 28.7 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes WTL, KEL, CNERGY, FFL and PRL.

READ MORE: Stocks gain 134 points in range bound trading