Stocks lose 299 points as political turmoil deepens

The stock market extended its losses on Wednesday after the benchmark of representative shares opened on the lower side. Arif Habib Ltd said stock prices dropped mainly because of the country’s political and economic instability. Investor activity declined significantly, with third-tier companies leading the volume board, it added. Topline Securities noted that the arrest of opposition leader Imran Khan and the subsequent reaction countrywide compelled investors to stay on the sidelines. Another dampener was the assertion by ratings agency Moody’s that Pakistan could default without an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout amid uncertain financing options. As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 41,074.95 points, down 298.86 points or 0.72 per cent from the preceding session. The overall trading volume decreased 51.2pc to 99.2 million shares. The traded value went down 44.6pc to $11.4m on a day-on-day basis.