The Karachi Stock Exchange crashed on Tuesday after SC verdict against Prime Minister Pervaiz Asharf and other officials of the ministry who are accused of involvement in rental power case.
At local equity market benchmark KSE-100 share index vanished 525.29 points or 3.16 percent to conclude the trading session at 16,107.89 points as compared to 16,633.18 points of the previous day.
Samar Iqbal equity dealer at KSE said stock market crashed after court order of arrest of Prime Minister in rental power case. Investors who were already cautious due to protest march in Islamabad got panic and aggressively sold their positions after the announcement by the court.
This fall of more than 500 points has occurred for the 4th time in the history of Karachi Stock Exchange. Last time such a major fall of over 500 points was seen in May 2008 when equities fell due to the impact of global financial crisis. Volumes remained high due to extreme volatility. Going forward developments on the domestic political front will play a key role on the share prices.
KSE-Allshare index shed by 368.77 points or 3.13 percent to end the day at 11,404.15 points, KSE-30 share index off by 385.59 points or 2.84 percent to close the day at 13,196.76 points while KMI-30 share index decreased by 734.82 points or 2.56 percent to stop the day at 27,997.61 points.Stock analyst Ahsan Mehanti said stocks nosedived amid panic selling after Supreme Court directed authorities to arrest PM in rental power case.
Bearish activity witnessed in the trading session in stocks across the board as investors awaited outcome of long march called for a powerful caretaker setup ahead of elections.Weak global stocks and commodities and concerns for rising circular debt in Pakistan energy sector played a catalyst role in bearish activity at KSE despite strong earnings outlook.
The day turnover of stock market in terms of share was 239.425 million shares after opening at 87.944 million shares and the value of traded shares was climbed to Rs 5.285 billion from Rs 1.688 billion. KSE capitalisation settled at Rs 4.041 trillion compared to Rs 4.172 trillion of a day earlier.
Trading took place in 365 companies where losers managed the strong lead over the gainers 336 to 15 while the value of 14 stocks remained intact. Nestle Pakistan Ltd was the biggest loser of the day down by Rs 225 to Rs 4550 followed by Rafhan Maize Product down by Rs 199.92 to Rs 3798.46. Gillette Pak and Al-Noor Sugar were the top price gainers of the day up by Rs 5.92 to Rs 124.41 and Rs 1.84 to Rs 38.74.
Active list was topped by Fauji Cement with 43.005 million shares off by Re 0.48 to Rs 6.66. Byco Petroleum was on the second position with 20.127 million shares off by Re 0.61 to Rs 12.53. It was followed by TRG Pakistan Ltd with 18.454 million shares shed by Re 0.07 to Rs 5.91, JS Company with 11.019 million shares misplaced Re 0.98 to Rs 14.13 and Maple Leaf Cement with 6.567 million shares down by Re 1 to Rs 14.32.