Stocks slide over 400 points on slowdown fears, flood losses

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed in the red on Monday after some experts revised downwards the growth estimate for fiscal year 2023 and the government issued an estimate of the damages caused by floods. The KSE-100 index closed at 41,859.30 points, down 449.81 points, or 1.06 per cent. The index saw an intraday low of 41,859.10 points shortly before trading was suspended for the day. Arif Habib Corporation's Ahsan Mehanti said stocks were down on investor concerns over reports that the growth rate was revised to 2.3pc for FY23 while the finance ministry had estimated losses of $9.3 billion from the floods. According to Topline Securities, GDP growth is expected to be in the range 2.5-3.5pc in FY23, revised downwards from their earlier estimates of 3-4pc. "Weak global equities, dismal data on cement, oil and fertiliser sales in August and falling rupee played a catalyst role in bearish activity," Mehanti added.