PSX is dominated by bears as political tensions mount

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) remained under the dominance of the bears on Tuesday, in line with the previous session, as the market reacted to the political uncertainties in the country.

The index went below the 43,000-point level in the face of worsening political and economic conditions, as well as escalating geopolitical tensions and commodity prices in the international market.

The KSE-100 index ended the day at 42,873.35 points, down 388.62 points, or 0.90 percent.The investment environment was harmed by political uncertainty after the Opposition’s decision to file a no-confidence resolution against Prime Minister Imran Khan in the National Assembly Secretariat

The investment environment was harmed by political uncertainty after the Opposition’s decision to file a no-confidence resolution against Prime Minister Imran Khan in the National Assembly Secretariat.

The negative trend was fueled by uncertainty in the worldwide crude oil market, as well as predictions for the benchmark interest rate.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) agreed to keep the policy rate at 9.75 percent for the next six weeks, the SBP stated later after the session.

In its post-market assessment, Arif Habib Limited remarked that today’s session was tumultuous owing to political turmoil and an overheated commodities cycle.

“The market began in the red zone and remained under pressure throughout the day,” it stated, adding that the cement sector also remained in the red zone as worldwide coal prices rose.

Meanwhile, in the last trading hour, there was widespread selling.

Banks (-85.8 points), cement (-67.7 points), exploration and production (-62.1 points), electricity (-37.3 points), and oil marketing businesses all contributed to the poor performance (-34 points).

During the session, 343 businesses’ shares were exchanged. 102 scrips finished in the green, 223 in the red, and 18 stayed unchanged at the end of trade.

Overall trading volumes fell to 226.10 million shares, down from 236.88 million on Monday. During the day, Rs7.12 billion worth of shares were exchanged.

With 17.35 million shares traded, TPL Corporation was the most active, dropping Re1 to settle at Rs10.46. Unity Foods, with 17.18 million shares traded, lost Rs1.49 to end at Rs23.64, and Ghani Global Holdings, with 16.90 million shares traded, lost Rs0.87 to settle at Rs15.83, were the next two stocks to trade.