ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) crashed on Tuesday due to political instability and ongoing protests by the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in the federal capital.
After showing an outstanding performance in the past week the trading house experienced its largest single-day drop, plummeting by over 3,500 points.
Yesterday, the 100-index crossed the 99,000 benchmark, and experts were hoping that the stock market would cross the historic threshold of 100,000 today.
However, the political unrest turned the tide and the PSX lost 3,505.62 points showing a negative change of 3.57 percent. At close the 100-index settled with 94,574.16 points as compared to 98,079.78 points on the last trading day.
Overall 1,116,324,649 shares were traded on Tuesday as compared to 640,258,528 shares the previous trading day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs 43.291 billion against Rs.25.623 billion on the last trading day.
READ ALSO: Pakistan Forces Take Control of Islamabad’s D-Chowk, Push Back PTI Protesters
As many as 456 companies transacted their shares in the stock market, 53 of them registered gains and 355 met losses, whereas the share price of 48 companies remained unchanged.
The three top trading companies were K-Electric Limited with 101,636,133 shares at Rs 4.65 per share, followed by Bank of Punjab with 92,023,190 shares at Rs 6.85 per share whereas Hascol Petrol settled with 73,320,431 shares at Rs.13.59 per share.
Sapphire Textile Mills Limited recorded a maximum increase of Rs. 40.88 per share price, closing at Rs 1,177.99, whereas Mehmood Textile Mills Limited was the runner-up with a Rs 35.02 increase in its per share price to Rs 535.40.
Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited witnessed a maximum decline of Rs 141.07 per share closing at Rs 7,813.48 followed by Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited with a decrease of Rs 112.79 to close at Rs.19,019.35.
Topline Securities attributed the market decline to political instability, especially the protests and the march towards the capital, which heightened investor concerns.
The stock market on Monday enjoyed another dynamic session, when it made a strong rebound from the early fall and closed above 98,000 points, influenced by robust investor interest in the banking sector and some easing of political noise.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies have taken control of Islamabad’s D-Chowk and pushed back Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protesters after clashes erupted between security forces and rallygoers.
The PTI workers had attempted to remove the container blocking the heavily fortified Red Zone in the federal capital, prompting police to evacuate the area.
Earlier today, former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party charged protesters have entered Islamabad’s D-Chowk as the heavily fortified Red Zone in the federal capital has become a battleground.
According to reports the protests and demonstrations over the last 18 months have cost Rs 2 billion to the national exchequer.
