KSE-100 Index falls over 450 points as bears make comeback

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) became submerged in negativity on Monday, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index fell more than 450 points during the trading session.

At 3:10pm, the KSE-100 Index was trading at 41,778.53, down 463.45 points or 1.1%.

The KSE-100 is up 0.35% despite poor investor engagement.

Index-heavy industries such as automobiles, chemicals, cement, commercial banks, oil, and gas exploration businesses, and OMCs were all trading in the red.

According to experts, the delay in resuming the International Monetary Fund (IMF) plan is causing this unfavorable feeling.

“This drag is caused by Pakistan’s inability to secure a staff-level agreement (SLA) with the IMF,” Sana Tawfik, an analyst at Arif Habib Limited (AHL), explained.

The IMF said on Friday that it is working with Pakistani authorities to complete the pending ninth review “once the necessary financing is in place and the agreement is finalized.”

“In addition,” Nathan Porter, the IMF Mission Chief for Pakistan, was quoted as saying in a statement to Business Recorder, “the IMF supports the authorities in the implementation of policies in the coming period, including technical work to prepare the FY24 budget, which is expected to be passed by the National Assembly before the end of June.”

The news comes as Pakistan continues to work with the Washington-based lender to restart its bailout program, which has been stuck at the ninth review since November of last year.

Meanwhile, Tawfik stated on Monday that the prior bullish feeling was influenced by the recent strong results season. “At the moment, there is no new development in sight to drive upward momentum,” the analyst stated.

“The market is also closely monitoring political developments,” she added.

The talks between the government and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to set an election date ended in failure.

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