KARACHI: The uncertain political condition and devaluation of the local currency pushed the stock market to the red zone on Thursday. During the final hour of trading, across-the-board selling was witnessed, while the cement sector also remained under pressure.
All the factors caused the KSE-100 index to lose 324.27 points and close at 43,786.83 points. However, on a day-on-day basis, the trading volume hiked to 141 million shares (30.1 per cent), and traded value increased to $26.5 million (16.6 per cent).
On the other hand, Gold prices touched an all-time high. Per tola rate reached Rs134,300 and per 10-gram price stood at Rs1,500. It is pertinent to mention that dollar touched Rs189 yesterday.
Meanwhile, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) data showed that the foreign reserves dropped to $11.31 billion after a decrease of $720 million. The increase of 250 basis points in the policy rate by SBP was also rejected by the traders and industry. According to traders, the policy rate of 12.25pc will create pressure on the business sector; the decision was unexpected, especially in the current political crisis.
The traders criticised the central bank for not taking notice of the devaluation of the rupee.