Political, security fears drive PSX down

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued its losing streak on Tuesday as it dropped over 900 points owing to growing concerns over political noise and security challenges ahead of elections in the country. Despite the beginning of trading on a promising note, marked by the intra-day high of 63,074.51 points, the KSE-100 index was unable to sustain the momentum and began a rapid descend before midday. The bearish streak was exacerbated by apprehensions about the weak economic outlook and pending fiscal reforms for the loss-making state-owned enterprises (SOEs). In addition, the power sector’s circular debt and reports of six-month budget deficit surging to 2.3% of gross domestic product (GDP) further aided the downward pressure on the index. Resultantly, in the absence of positive triggers, the market fell to the intra-day low at 61,637.62 points, falling even below the psychologically significant 62,000 mark.