KSE 100
Pakistan’s stock market declined by more than six percent on Thursday after rumors of India’s military action near Karachi and the business was stopped for one hour. Although these rumors were baseless, the KSE 100 index fell 6,948.73 points, or 6.32 percent, to 1,03,060.30 point before the business was stopped. Fatima Bucha of AKDi Securities confirmed that the situation had calmed down a bit, after which the business was restored. He said that but the situation may be worse because investors are getting nervous due to geopolitical situation. No one is sure what will happen and how will Pakistan answer India’s aggression and will or not.
Crisis on foreign exchange reserves
The main reason for the fall in the index was a negative trend in major stocks such as cement, energy, bank and technology, which collectively pulled the index down. Meanwhile, the government has taken steps to keep its foreign exchange reserves stable. It has imposed a 60 -day ban on imports and exports of precious metals, jewelery and gems since Thursday. The temporary sanctions were imposed by the order of the Ministry of Commerce, in which the 2013 SRO 760 was suspended, which controls the trade of precious metals. This ban is associated with recent deadlock with India as a possible strategy to limit the flow of metals.
Fear of increasing dollar demand
The State Bank of Pakistan has also advised informally advised to closely monitor the dollar outflow in inter-banks and open markets, as the increasing struggle may increase the demand for dollars rapidly. It has been informed by the Punjab Police that a missile was fired by Pakistan near Amritsar. This missile has been killed in the air by India’s air defense system. At the same time, drone attacks have occurred in many cities of Pakistan on Thursday.
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