PSX plunges over 700 points as investors anticipate rate hike

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed accelerated selling pressure on Tuesday as the benchmark KSE-100 index registered a loss of over 700 points by the end of the trading session. The market stood at 47,344.53 at 10am and slid to 46,634.48 by 1:40pm, 844.13 points below the closing rate of the previous session. It eventually settled at 46,770.41, 708.20 points or 1.49pc down from yesterday’s close of 47,478.61. Salman Naqvi, head of research at Aba Ali Habib Securities, stated that the two major reasons for the downward trend of the PSX are the sharp depreciation of the local currency in the open market and the rumours of an emergency monetary policy adjustment to be implemented which will further increase the interest rate. “The market is continuously dropping, there are many political decisions which can also be cited as a reason, but the biggest reason for it is the dollar as it has caused the current account deficit to increase,” he said.