April 8, 2019 (MLN): The domestic capital markets seem to be dancing to the tunes of bearish sentiments lately as the benchmark index crumbled under immense pressure yet again and lost 599 points in today’s trade.

This ended the session noticeably below the 37,000 points milestone at 36,921 points.

The domestic capital markets have been running a bloody channel for days at length, given that KSE – 100 index lost above 1,600 points in the last 8 sessions, including today’s.

So what seems to be the main trigger behind KSE -100 indexes collapse this time? 50 bps hike in policy rate by SBP? No. Higher than expected inflation reading? No. Finance Minister’s statement on debt level and economical condition? Not still.

While all these factors contribute to the economic chaos that is gripping Pakistan at the moment, the latest addition to this muddle is Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s statement over the weekend, where he tipped on a potential threat at the border, quoting a reliable source, apprising that an attack from India is expected this month.

Reacting to this announcement, the Cement sector performed the worst at trading floors today, given that cement exports to India are significant – constituting 21% on average of the total cement exports over the past four years, and 16% of the current fiscal year’s cement exports as of December 2018.

The sector stripped away 119 points from the index today, while the main driving constituent was LUCK with a 4.9% decline in its share price.

A total of 73.3 million shares of 93 companies were traded within KSE – 100 index today, at PKR 3.6 billion. While the volume and value of today’s trade exceeded previous session’s figures significantly, 84 companies recorded a decline in share prices while only 9 companies recorded a rise.

Similarly, the broader KSE All Share index lost 396 points today, as it concluded the session at 27,110 points.

Within the index, 106.9 million shares were traded at PKR 4 billion, while 245 companies recorded declines in share prices.

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