PSX Crashes By Over 1,500 Points to Close Below 79,000

Bears wrecked the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday with the benchmark KSE-100 index losing over 1,700 points in intraday trade to begin the new week. The benchmark KSE-100 index appeared bearish in the opening hours of trade today and immediately dropped into the red zone, losing 1,713 points. After opening trade at 80,117  points, the benchmark KSE-100 index fell to 79,394 at 9:45 AM. At 12:45 PM, it clocked in at 78,404, down by 2.14 percent or 1,713 points. At 3:07 PM, it was at 78,454, down 2.1 percent or 1,663 points. It closed at 78,539, down 1.97 percent or 1,578 points. A frantic selling spree ran riot in major sectors such as automobile assemblers, cement, chemical, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, and oil marketing companies. Big stocks like OGDC, PPL, PSO, SHEL, SSGC, HBL, and NBP all traded negatively. Today’s losses come as the market reacts to increasing political tensions as the government is trying to ban Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). The highest participation was witnessed in K-Electric Limited (PSX: KEL) with over 33.4 million shares traded, followed by Pak Elektron Limited (PSX: PAEL) and PIA Holding Company Limited (PSX: PIAHCLA). The scrips had 23.5 million shares and 19.2 million shares traded, respectively.