PSX records historic single-day drop as KSE-100 sheds 3,506 points

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a historic single-day drop as the benchmark KSE-100 index shed 3,505.62 points on Tuesday, ARY News reported.

The KSE-100 index shed 3,505.62 points, or 3.57 percent, to settle at 94574.16 levels, as compared with the previous day’s closing of 98,079.78 points.

A total of 1.11 billion shares were traded during the day at the PSX, as compared with 640.25 million shares the previous trading day.

The price of shares stood at Rs43.165 billion as against Rs25.623 billion on the last trading day.

Analysts at Topline Securities said that the KSE-100 witnessed its largest-ever single-day decline due to political uncertainty which shattered the investors’ confidence.

“Intraday, the index swung between a low of 3,899 points and a high of 1,739 points. The State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) removal of the Minimum Deposit Rate (MDR) on conventional banks for companies, alongside its directive for Islamic banks to pay at least 75% of the weighted average gross yield on PKR savings individual deposits, further unsettled the market,” they added.

As many as 455 scrips were active in the Pakistan Stock Exchange, out of which, 52 recorded gains and 355 witnessed losses, while the share price of 48 companies remained unchanged.

The bloodbath at the PSX came just a day after the KSE-100 hit an all-time high.

The KSE-100 gained 281.55 points, or 0.29 percent to settle at 98,079.78 points during the previous day’s session at the stock market.

The three top trading companies included K-Electric Limited with 101.63 million shares at Rs4.65 per share, followed by Bank of Punjab with 92.02 million shares at Rs6.85 per share.

Hascol Petrol remained the third with 73.32 million shares at Rs13.59 per share.

The top gainers at the Pakistan Stock Exchange were Sapphire Textile Mills Limited with an increase of Rs40.88 per share price, closing at Rs1,177.99, followed by Mehmood Textile Mills Limited which gained Rs35.02 to close at Rs535.4.

On the flip side, Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited recorded a decline of Rs141.07 per share closing at Rs7,813.48, followed by Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited with a Rs112.79 decline to close at Rs19,019.35.