Pakistan stocks shed 490 points on political uncertainty

KARACHI: Pakistan stocks fell by 490 points on Tuesday due to rising political uncertainty and concerns related to falling foreign exchange reserves.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended at 41,950 points from previous day’s closing of 42,440 points, showing a decline of 490 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the KSE-100 Index opened negative and witnessed a volatile session throughout the day due to concerns over foreign exchange reserves and rate hike in the Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) which pulled off confidence among investors.

The market continued to remain under pressure as investors opted to remain on the sideline until further clarity on the political as well as economic front. Volumes remained dry throughout the main board whereas, healthy volumes were observed in the 3rd tier stocks.

The Index closed at 41,950.32 points, down by 489.93 points (-1.15 per cent DoD). Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (-108.8 points), Technology (-74.8 points), Cement (-72.1 points), Fertilizer (-56.2 points) and Chemical (-25.0 points).

Volumes increased from 119.0 million shares to 169.7 million shares (+42.6 per cent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 52.7 per cent to reach US$ 27.1 million as against US$ 17.8 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes are PRL, SILK, TPLP, GGL and CNERGY.