KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) failed to break the bearish spell extended from the previous week as investors remained cautious regarding the country’s foreign diplomatic issues. In addition to this, the rise in COVID-19 infection in the last few days also had a negative impact.
The KSE-100 Index started the day with an attempt at recovery and managed to push the Index in positive territory. However, the selling pressure proved much stronger that pulled down the market back in negative in just a few minutes.
The KSE-100 Index was trading at 47,462 points at 1:00 pm, 224 points down from the closing on Friday. The statement by the prime minister indicating the seriousness of Afghan political and security issues for Pakistan and neighbouring countries in the region made investors even more cautious, traders and analysts said.
While the continued rise in COVID-19 infection also added to the negative sentiments for the market, they added. Prime Minister Imran Khan in a telephone call with Iran President-elect Ebrahim Raisi expressed concern about the security
the situation in Afghanistan.
The prime minister cautioned that the latest developments could lead to serious repercussions for both Pakistan and Iran, resulting in an influx of refugees towards the bordering areas of the two countries.
Meanwhile, for the fifth consecutive day, Pakistan recorded over 1,000 new COVID-19 infections. In the last 24 hours, the country registered 19 fatalities due to COVID-19 while 1,347 people tested positive, according to the latest statistics released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).
