During the early hours of trading on Monday, Pakistani stocks saw a panic-stricken sell-off, with the market plunging to its lowest level in almost four months.

After commencing trading at 42,069.65, the benchmark KSE-100 fell almost 1000 points. The main bourse was bearish from the start, dropping into the red zone after losing 1045 points or 2.47 percent by 2:15 p.m., with the banking and auto sectors contributing the most to the bourse’s poor performance at the time.

The benchmark KSE 100 index fell 1,179.76 points to an intraday low of 40,834.97. It fell below 41,000 for the first time since November 2020, closing at 40,879.93 (down 1,134.80 points) and setting a new 52-week low.

The recently published Federal budget was seen as encouraging for the IMF program’s resurrection, but news over the weekend about a potential adjustment to budget ideas has caused concern in the stock market, causing the index to slip below 41,000. A similar trend can be seen in the forex market, where the Rupee is now trading at PKR/USD 204 on the interbank market.

Local investors choose to sell their stakes early in the market. Around 163 million shares were traded on the market, with 278 of the 347 active scrips losing value, 52 gaining value, and 17 staying constant.

Markets tumbled as the federal government published the next fiscal year’s budget on Friday, which included a combination of stabilising measures laced with dubious real estate reforms.

The currency market has also been under pressure, with the PKR/USD interbank rate sitting at 203.86

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