Stocks under pressure over policy rate concerns

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday continued its bearish trend and lost nearly 450 points amid uncertainty surrounding the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)’s policy rate announcement ahead of the federal budget presentation. Earlier, the market opened on a positive note but soon investor sentiment turned bearish as the day progressed. The KSE-100 index took a deep dive before midday as concerns grew over the SBP’s upcoming monetary policy announcement. Stock selling in banking and exploration and production (E&P) sectors fuelled the downward trend. Rumours of higher taxes on capital markets in the FY25 budget also dampened investor interest. The index recovered significantly due to selective buying but the trend reversed again towards the end of trading when the market hit its intra-day low at 74,136.52 points. The KSE-100 closed near the day’s low with significant losses.