PSX down 707 points over political upheaval

KARACHI: Bears dominated the bourse throughout the day on Monday as the market witnessed massive pressure on political uncertainty and record slump in the value of rupee.
Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said that the market remained under pressure after Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) lost to opposition in Punjab by-polls.
“The unexpected delay in the release of tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and uncertainty over funding from friendly countries to support plunging rupee played a catalyst role in the bearish activity,” he added.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares Index shed 1.68 per cent, or 707.80 points, to close at 41,367.11 points. The KSE-30 shares Index shed 1.90 per cent, or 304.49 points, to close at 15,746.13 points.
An analyst at Pearl Securities said that the market tanked in today’s session as Pakistan entered another round of political uncertainty with the results of Punjab assembly by-elections, where Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) stunned PML-N and political pundits with a clean sweep.

“The fire of provincial politics is anticipated to engulf the coalition government in the centre. Economic uncertainty is likely to ensue, jeopardising the IMF deal and hindering economic stabilisation. The rupee bore the brunt of this development by depreciating 1.9 per cent on a daily basis,” he added.
Going forward, the analysts expect the market to remain under pressure. Hence, recommending investors adopt the “Sell on Strength” strategy in the upcoming sessions.
As many as 326 scrips were active of which 55 advanced, 253 declined and 18 remained unchanged.
The ready market volumes stood at 151.35 million shares, compared with the turnover of 140.11 million shares in the last trading session.
The companies which reflected the highest gains included Allawasaya Textile up Rs168.38 to close at Rs2,350.00/share, Premium Textile up Rs20 to close at Rs849.99/share.
The companies which reflected the most losses included Rafhan Maize down Rs150 to close at Rs9,800/share, and Mehmood Textile down Rs45 to close at Rs755/share.
The highest volumes were witnessed in WorldCall Telecom with a turnover of 12.73 million shares. The scrip shed 7 paisas at Rs1.36/share, followed by K-Electric with a turnover of 10.31 million shares. It shed 3 paisas to close at Rs3.05/share. TPL Properties remained the third with a turnover of 8.29 million shares. It shed 84 paisas to finish at Rs19.36/share.