ISLAMABAD: Increased political turbulence once again impacted the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as the benchmark KSE-100 witnessed a decline of over 1,000 points during Friday’s trading session.
At noon, the benchmark index was recorded at 60,035.67, marking a decrease of 984.38 points or 1.61%. Its intra-day low hit 60,009.40. Key sectors such as OGDC, PPL, Pak Refinery, and PSO experienced significant losses.
On Thursday, escalating political instability dampened investor sentiment as the benchmark KSE-100 dropped by over 1.8% to settle at 61,020.06, reflecting a decline of 1,133.79 points.
The stock market has been facing pressure for several days now due to delays in the General Elections results and allegations of electoral fraud, contributing to uncertainty.
Moreover, the formation of a coalition government appears distant as political parties strive to secure support.
On the political front, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) announced plans to hold a press conference in Islamabad on Friday, where they intend to present “original and signed Forms-45” as evidence of widespread electoral fraud during result compilation.
The PTI alleges that despite initially securing an absolute majority in the general elections, the results were altered after the issuance of Forms 47. These allegations have been refuted.
This announcement follows the party’s decision to stage “peaceful” protests nationwide on Saturday against purported rigging in the 2024 general elections held on February 8.
Meanwhile, the caretaker federal cabinet approved an increase in gas prices for various sectors on Thursday, with the highest expected hike in gas tariffs for domestic consumers.
Internationally, Indian shares began higher on Friday, continuing their upward trend over the last three sessions, supported by sustained domestic buying and in line with the gains in Asian markets following encouraging US economic data indicating a slowdown.
I am an experienced writer, analyst, and author. My exposure in English journalism spans more than 28 years. In the past, I have been working with daily The Muslim (Lahore Bureau), daily Business Recorder (Lahore/Islamabad Bureaus), Daily Times, Islamabad, daily The Nation (Lahore and Karachi). With daily The Nation, I have served as Resident Editor, Karachi. Since 2009, I have been working as a Freelance Writer/Editor for American organizations.
