The tumultuous domestic political situation along with concerns over inflows from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and a bearish streak in regional bourses took a combined toll on investor-sentiment as the benchmark KSE-100 Index lost over 1,500 points during intra-day trading on Monday.
Stocks across the board witnessed selling pressure with the benchmark index hitting a low of 43,315, a fall of 1,525 points or 3.4%, in intra-day trading. Index-heavy cement, banks, autos as well as oil stocks took a hit.
At around 2:20pm, the KSE-100 Index was trading a little over 43,300, with investors opting to stay on the sidelines.
Last week, the stock market witnessed only one trading session on Friday as the market remained closed from Monday to Thursday on account of Eid-ul-Fitr. However, during this single session, the stock market remained in the grip of a bearish trend.
Across the board selling on investor concerns over PKR instability, rumours of policy rate hike in the upcoming monetary policy and political unrest in the country have kept the market under pressure.
"Negative sentiment continues to persist as oil prices increased in the international market, whereas the government remains hesitant in revising the domestic rates, which has increased the price differential claim (PDC) on government subsidies,” Abdullah Umer, analyst at Ismail Iqbal Securities Limited, told Business Recorder.
"In addition, rising political noise after former prime minister Imran Khan announced a long march towards Islamabad after May 20 is playing on the minds of investors,” he said.
Umer added that the rupee has remained under pressure as well after the US Fed Reserve raised its interest rate.
Last week, the Federal Reserve raised short-term interest rates by 0.50%, the biggest jump since 2000 as part of an effort to tame down inflationary pressure.
Meanwhile, delays in the IMF programme, and a lack of good news from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's visit to Saudi Arabia have also sent jitters down the market, added Umer.
