Market watch: Geopolitical turmoil takes toll on bourse

Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed a dreary session on Monday, as the benchmark KSE-100 index lingered in negative territory for most of the day and finally closed lower by 313 points. Taking cue from the bearish global equities due to prevailing tensions between Russia and Ukraine, Pakistan’s bourse remained under pressure and market players opted to stay on the sidelines. Even fresh appreciation of the rupee against the US dollar failed to entice investors. Despite starting the session on a positive note, the KSE-100 index failed to maintain the bullish momentum and started falling at a steady pace. The index, after remaining in red zone throughout the day, touched an intra-day low of 45,342 points just before the closing hour. However, stock buying in the final hour helped the index to recover slightly. At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a decrease of 313.02 points, or 0.69%, to settle at 45,362.85 points. In its report, Arif Habib Limited stated that the Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed another sluggish day, as the market opened positive but could not remain in the green zone.