KARACHI – The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) felt the heat of the Russian military operation against Ukraine on Thursday and the KSE-100 index plunged by 1302 points to close at 43830 points.
Investors adopted a dump-and-run approach as the stock market saw massive selling pressure, falling KSE-100 below the 45,000 level.
Experts are of the views that the worsening Russia-Ukraine crisis is the prime reason behind investors’ dump-and-run approach at PSX.
Market Closing | 24th Feb 2022
KSE100 Index: 43,830.51 (-1302.41)#KSE100 #ekglobalcapital #PSX pic.twitter.com/J0VgS9c6bx— EK Global Capital (@EkGlobalCapital) February 24, 2022
The stock market witnessed the lowest level of 43,791 points during intra-day trading.
Meanwhile, the crude oil price in the international market has surged to $104 per barrel while gas prices also expected to hit the new high as Russia is the leading gas exporter.
Earlier in the day, Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba confirmed that Russian forces have launched “full-scale invasion”.
“Putin has just launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes,” he wrote on Twitter
The development comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military invasion of Ukraine in a television address to the nation Thursday morning.
“I have made the decision of a military operation,” Putin said in the announcement.
Furthermore, Kyiv claimed to have killed 50 Russian troops during the confrontation, however, the toll is yet to confirm by Moscow.