ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Stock Exchange lost nearly one thousand points today amid different negative news. The PSX benchmark KSE-100 Index fell below 44,400 points in intra-day trading, hovering around the 44,350 points as market participants reacted to negative news from regional markets as well as the US Senate’s bill on Pakistan.
Today the US Senate moved a bill that seeks to assess Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan before and after the fall of Kabul. The proposed legislation requires the US secretary of state, in consultation with the secretary of defence and the director of national intelligence, to submit a report on entities providing support to the Taliban to the appropriate congressional committees.
Hence, stock market manipulators used this news to create panic in the market. Meanwhile, regional markets also suffered losses with Shanghai and Hong Kong shares dropping today (Sept 29), tracking overnight Wall Street losses and hit by China’s worsening power crunch, as investors exited Chinese stocks vulnerable to factory shutdowns including chemicals and steelmaking.
Broader negative sentiment also weighed as economic uncertainties ahead of a scheduled tightening of US monetary policy and deepening concerns over persistent inflation.
The KSE-100 Index has been under pressure for several weeks now, dropping to an over four-month low before Wednesday’s session as economic sentiment turned less bullish amid a widening current account deficit, rupee depreciation and interest-rate hike by the State Bank of Pakistan.
