The seven session uptrend at the Pakistan Stock Exchange came to an end on Thursday as expansion in trade deficit and mounting Covid Omicron cases dragged the KSE-100 index lower by 326 points.
Over two fold increase in trade gap during the first six months of the ongoing fiscal year and jump in imports to an unsustainable level painted a gloomy image of the economy and shattered investor sentiments. The market now expects further deterioration in the current account deficit and slide in rupee against the US dollar.
Adding to woes of the market participants, the steep increase in cases of Covid Omicron variant all over the nation renewed fears of another lockdown and investors chose to dump their holdings. However, massive buying from foreigners limited losses.
The session kicked off with a slide as investors rushed to offload their positions on the back of dismal trade data.
