KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) faced major setbacks on Wednesday with the benchmark KSE-100 Index plummeting 755.40 points to close at 116,020.11. An abysmal decline of 0.65%, the day marked a setback after two consecutive days of gains which well demonstrated the market's sensitivity to global trade tensions, especially those between the US and China.
Morning trading began quietly with the traders mostly working within a range. The latter part of the second session saw a rally that pushed the index to the intraday high of 117,424.04; however, the aggressive late-session selling subsequently dragged the index deep into the red.
This fall, according to Topline Securities, was further aggravated by fears about the global economy ignited by rising trade tensions between the U.S. and China. Fears have ramped up regarding a global slowdown due to President Donald Trump’s recent actions regarding tariff investigations into several key minerals, pharmaceutical products, and chips. The fact that China has retaliated by suspending deliveries of Boeing aircraft has only acted to spook investors.
Gains made by UBL, EFERT, MCB, LUCK, and CHCC contributed to an additional 201 points on the index. In contrast, MARI, ENGROH, PPL, PSO, and BAHL together shed 441 points from the index.
The volume of trading improved slightly, reaching 481.81 million shares valued at Rs38.54 billion. Cnergyico PK topped the volume chart with 35.61 million shares traded. The Pakistani rupee saw slight recovery and closed at 280.46 against the dollar despite the decline in the stock market.
Under pressure from destabilized local fundamentals, should trade relationships continue to be strained, further downslide for the PSX will become likely in the wake of jittery global and regional markets.
[Source Credit: Business Recorder]
