Bears dominated the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Thursday as shares witnessed a spike in selling pressure, with analysts attributing the losses to “ambiguity on the political landscape”.
According to the PSX website, the KSE-100 index lost 936.97, or 1.51 per cent, to stand at 61,216.87 at 2:52pm. It finally closed at 61,020.05, down 1133.79 or 1.82pc from the previous close of 62,153.84 points.
The index was fairly stable during trading before 2:30pm. The losses had coincided with the PTI saying it would announce a date for countrywide protests against alleged rigging in the Feb 8 polls.
On Wednesday, the index had rallied following a formal announcement by PML-N and its allies, including the PPP, for the formation of a coalition government which restored investor confidence. As a result, the KSE-100 index partially recovered the overnight losses and settled above the 62,000 level.
It should be mentioned that the caretaker government on Wednesday allowed another up to 45pc increase in the natural gas tariff with effect from Feb 1 to meet the revenue requirement of the gas utilities targeted for the current year.
