Stocks fall 230 points in early trade after attack on Imran Khan

Stocks opened in the red on Friday, with the benchmark KSE-100 index falling immediately after trading began. The KSE-100 index lost 229.61 points, or 0.55 per cent, to reach 41,861.10 points at 9:30am. Head of Equities at Intermarket Securities, Raza Jafri, said the market opened on a weak note as expected after the assassination attempt on former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan. “Volumes are thin as investors wait for more clarity. The near-term outlook depends on if political polarisation intensifies from here on, or if cooler heads prevail and tempers are scaled back,” he commented. First National Equities Limited Director Amir Shehzad also attributed the stock market’s fall to the attack on Imran. However, since economic conditions were “comparatively better”, unless the PTI called on its workers to resort to violence which it had not done so till now, the market might recover, he said.