Investors suffer from political volatility and monetary policy stagnation.
Tuesday saw the benchmark KSE-100 index drop more than 900 points as political volatility dampened the mood at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). The benchmark index fell 931.98 points, or 1.48 percent, to conclude at the 61,841.74 level at the closing. The KSE-100 index fell 1,163 points, or 1,637.62 points, over the day before making a small rebound.
This decline followed Monday’s severe selling pressure at the PSX, which caused the benchmark index to drop more than 1,000 points to settle at 62,773.72 before the SBP held the key policy rate steady at 22% in their monetary policy announcement.
Despite the fact that other industries were also feeling the heat of uncertainty, selling pressure was even more intense in the index-heavy oil and gas sectors.
Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, both leaders of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI), were convicted to ten years in prison on Tuesday by a trial court in connection with the cypher case. This new step comes at a time when the political climate is becoming increasingly unstable.