The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a severe bearish rout on Monday, with its benchmark index nosediving by more than 5,400 points and erasing over 631 billion rupees from the total market capitalisation in a single tumultuous session.
The KSE-100 index, a key barometer of the country”s market performance, plummeted by 5,478.63 points, or 3.16 per cent, to close at 167,691.08. The index recorded significant volatility throughout the day, reaching a high of 174,336.86 before touching a low of 166,886.63.
Sentiment across the board remained deeply negative, as reflected in the KSE-30 index, which comprises the top 30 companies. It tumbled by 1,715.27 points, a 3.23 per cent decline, to settle at 51,327.62.
The sharp decline in share values was accompanied by a reduction in overall trading volume in the regular market. The day”s turnover fell to 461.26 million shares, compared to the 537.64 million shares traded in the previous session.
Despite the lower volume, the value of shares transacted saw an increase, climbing to PKR 24.93 billion from the prior day”s PKR 23.79 billion, indicating that trading was concentrated in higher-priced scrips.
The substantial downturn culminated in the market”s total capitalisation contracting to PKR 18.97 trillion from its previous position of PKR 19.60 trillion, according to data released by the stock exchange.