Stocks lose 432 points on economic turmoil

A bearish rampage took hold of the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Wednesday as the benchmark index dropped because of reduced investors’ confidence. Topline Securities said no positive development took place on the front of the International Monetary Fund programme, which hurt investors’ sentiments. In addition, continuous institutional selling in the run-up to the end of 2022-23 kept the overall mood in the negative territory throughout the day. Arif Habib Ltd said the benchmark dipped to the red zone on the unstable economic situation that forced investors to trim their positions. Volumes remained healthy with third-tier stocks leading the volume board. As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 40,220.80 points, down 432.23 points or 1.06 per cent from the preceding session.