Shares at PSX plunge 700 points ahead of IMF team’s impending visit for final review

For the second consecutive session this week, shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday traded in the red as bears dragged the benchmark index down sharply by 753 points. The KSE-100 index contracted by 753.26 points, or 1.16 per cent, to stand at 64,048.44 from the previous close of 64,801.70. It had reached a low of 63,856.51 during the session. Shahbaz Ashraf, chief investment officer at FRIM Ventures, observed that the bourse closed in negative zone yet again, down by 1.2pc (754pts) compared to 1.45pc yesterday. “The selling trend can be accredited to uncertainty with the upcoming Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on 18th March 2024” coupled with the fear of the rupee depreciating in the next few months,“ he said as he reminded that the country needs to “make a payment of around $4-4.5bn dollars”. Additionally, he said the market was off to a slow start in the month of Ramazan with sluggish volumes and a “lack of triggers in the near term despite robust corporate earnings and market trading at a Price-to-Earning Ratio of 4.0-4.5”.