Selling continues at bourse, KSE-100 down nearly 1,800 points
Selling pressure continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding nearly 1,800 points during the opening hours of trading on Monday.At 10:40am, the benchmark index was hovering at 177,822.18, a decrease of 1,781.55 points or 0.99%.Selling was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including ARL, HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, PPL, POL, HBL, MCB, MEBL and NBP, traded in the red.Federal Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb announced on Saturday that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would soon unveil a relief package for the construction sector.The minister also revealed that the government is considering reducing tax rates for the property sector and will announce a relief package for the textile industry within the next ten to twelve days.During the previous week, the PSX came under sustained selling pressure as heightened political uncertainty and deteriorating security conditions, particularly in Balochistan, undermined investor confidence, overshadowing otherwise supportive macroeconomic developments and strong external inflows.The benchmark KSE-100 Index closed the week at 179,603.73 points, registering a decline of 4,525.85 points or 2.5% week-on-week.Globally, Asian shares were quietly consolidating recent hefty gains on Monday as holidays made for thin trading, and dismal economic data out of Japan took some of the heat out of that booming market.China, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States were among the centres off, leaving currencies, commodities and bonds all becalmed.The major data of the week are not out until Friday, when surveys of global manufacturing hit and the US reports gross domestic product for the fourth quarter.Median forecasts are for annualised growth of 3.0%, down from 4.4% the previous quarter but still solid.Investors pushed Japan’s Nikkei up 0.2%, following a 5% rise last week. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan firmed 0.1%.South Korea’s tech-heavy market surged 8.2% last week, while Taiwan climbed almost 6% for the week.This is an intra-day update
