Pakistan Stock Exchange plunges amid political, economic uncertainty

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Exchange lost about 661 points on Wednesday due to the growing political and economic uncertainty in the country, reported the local media.
According to Dawn newspaper, the market opened on a positive note before the benchmark KSE-100 index started declining in the afternoon.
The stock exchange even lost about 800 points during the intra-day trade before bouncing back toward the end of the day.
Financial experts attributed the market’s erratic behavior to recent developments taking place on the country’s political and economic fronts.
Mohammad Sohail of Topline Securities told Dawn that “investors were worried over the controversy surrounding the appointment of the Inter-Services Intelligence chief.”
He was referring to the widespread media speculation about an alleged rift between Prime Minister Imran Khan and Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa over last week’s appointment of Lt. Gen. Nadeem Ahmad Anjum as the ISI director general which was not notified by the political administration.
Ahsan Mehanti from Arif Habib Corporation mentioned the country’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over a bailout package while explaining the decline of the stock market.
“Uncertainty over outcome of ongoing Pak/IMF talks under EFF [Extended Fund Facility] and economic uncertainty amid surging trade deficit, bond yields played a catalyst role in the bearish close,” he said.
Pakistan has also witnessed a decline of its national currency in recent months due to import payments and flight of the US dollar to neighboring Afghanistan.
The country’s finance minister Shaukat Tarin is also visiting Washington to hold a policy-level dialogue with top IMF officials to secure the next installment of the $6 billion bailout package