The ongoing political turmoil has taken a toll on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), as the benchmark KSE-100 Index fell nearly 1000 points in the opening hour of the trading session on Monday.
Earlier in the day, the benchmark index was being traded at 44,152.99 points, reflecting a drop of 999.12 points. The plunge comes after the political crisis in the country intensified on Sunday when Prime Minister Imran Khan sidestepped an attempt to oust him. The president dissolved the National Assembly and is currently seeking Imran Khan and Shehbaz Sharif’s advice to come up with an interim setup. The opposition condemned the move and announced that they would fight it in the Supreme Court.
In an interview with a local news outlet, Sana Tawfik, a senior analyst at Arif Habib Limited blamed “political uncertainty” for this “downfall”.
She said that the equities would remain under pressure until things become clear on the political front.
On Sunday, deputy speaker of the National Assembly, Qasim Khan Suri, blocked the opposition’s bid to hold voting on no-confidence motion.
A bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial is currently hearing a notice on the matter of the rejection of the no-confidence motion by NA deputy speaker.
