Stock market struggling to Recover

KARACHI: After yesterday’s bloodbath of 2,371.64 points downturn on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), today the benchmark KSE-100 index is holding up its end, with 189 points recovery since morning.

The index has been on the downturn since the start of the week. Before yesterday’s catastrophic turn, even on Monday the index saw cumulative decrease of 900 points during the trading day.

Today (Wednesday), the index opened at 62,833.03 points and touched the lowest of the morning at 62,499.93 points after short periods of fluctuations. By 11 a.m. the index has recovered modestly to trade nearly 200 points above opening level at 63,022.68 points.

On Monday, the decline was primarily led by banking and E&P sectors. However on Tuesday, the downfall came from myriad sectors.

Read More: PSX falls significantly due to institutional profit-taking

Today as well, both the decline and recovery were spread across the index, indicating a general loss of confidence in the market and not a specific sector as responsible.

The share market seems to have entered profit taking phase after posting 10-week long growth streak. The political turbulence, coupled with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) review is adding to the uncertainty in the market after showing improving investor confidence for over two months.

Market analysts anticipated this correction, and investor attention is now focused on the upcoming IMF Executive Board meeting scheduled for January 11, 2024.