PSX under pressure after long bullish spell

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the commencement of new week, snapped its rising spree and came under significant selling pressure owing to over-leveraged investor positions, futures contract rollover and pre-budget uncertainty, resulting in a drop of over 250 points. In the morning, the KSE-100 index had a robust start as it spiked to the intra-day high of 75,618.49 points. However, it quickly began to plummet as uncertainty surrounded the adoption of structural reforms under a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme. There were also reports about a high tax collection target of Rs12.4 trillion for the next fiscal year and concerns over negotiations regarding the outstanding dues of Chinese power plants set up as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).