Stocks fell sharply at the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Monday morning. The benchmark PSX-100 Index lost more than 800 points in the opening minutes of trade.
By 9:40 am, the index stood at 167,312.97. That marks a drop of 842.52 points, or 0.50%.
Selling hit several major sectors. These included automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration firms, oil marketing companies, power generation, and refineries.
Index-heavy stocks also traded in the red. These include PRL, NRL, HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, PPL, HBL, MEBL, NBP, and UBL.
Monday’s fall adds to a weak run. Last week, the PSX-100 dropped 2,609.74 points, or 1.5%, to close at 168,155.48 points.
Three things drove that decline:
- Stalled talks between the US and Iran
- A global sell-off in government bonds, which pushed US Treasury yields to their highest level since 2002
- A wider gap in Pakistan’s trade deficit
On Friday alone, the index slipped 481.36 points, or 0.29%, to close at 168,155.49. Brokerage firm Topline Securities said low investor activity, high crude oil prices, and the ongoing US-Iran standoff kept buyers on the sidelines. Five stocks, SYS, MEBL, LUCK, NBP, and HBL, pulled the index down by 269 points on their own.
