Stocks plunge 641 points on weak fiscal condition

KARACHI: Pakistan stocks plunged 641 points on Wednesday owing to political and fiscal uncertainty.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended at 42,863 points from previous day’s closing of 43,504 points, showing a decline of 641 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that a bloodbath session was observed in the market today, despite opening in the positive zone the market failed to sustain as the continuation to fiscal and political uncertainty triggered the investor confidence resulting the market to close on a negative note.

PSX witnessed profit selling across the board today due to further devaluation of Pak rupee against USD and tightening economic situation which pulled the KSE-100 index down to 1100 points giving the bears an upper hand.

The last trading hour witnessed value buying in cement stocks helping the index to recover modest gain with positive momentum.

The session remained dull, on the contrary hefty volumes were observed in 3rd tier stocks.

The Index closed at 42,863.15 points, down by 641.21 points (+1.47 per cent DoD). Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (-110.0 points), Fertilizer (-71.2 points), Cement (-64.3 points), and Power (-50.9 points).

Volumes increased from 233.9 million shares to 338.5 million shares (+44.8 per cent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 38.9 per cent to reach US$ 50.2 million as against US$ 36.1 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes are WTL, CNERGY, PAEL, PRL and TRG.