KSE-100 index dips over 1,500pts in market bloodbath

November 26, 2024 (MLN): Pakistan stocks experienced a seesaw journey in the early trading hours on Tuesday, with the benchmark index rising by as much as 1,739.81 points, only to fall by over 1,500 points.

Primarily, the reason for the sudden bloodbath in the market is the political unrest prevailing in the country due to ongoing protests, which caused sectors such as fertilizer, cement, and pharmaceuticals to remain in the red zone.

Meanwhile, the banking sector became the most volatile due to certain developments within the sector.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) decided that Islamic Banking Institutions (IBIs) must pay a profit on their PKR savings deposits equivalent to at least 75% of the weighted average gross yield of all pools of an IBI.

This decision dealt a major blow to Islamic banks, with MEBL and FABL plummeting by as much as 10%.

Meanwhile, the banking sector emerged as the most volatile sector due to the certain developments that the sector underwent.

On the positive side, the central bank issued another notification exempting the Minimum Profit Rate on the deposits of financial institutions, public sector enterprises and public limited companies.

As a result, MCB (+7.85%), HBL (+6.67%), BAFL (+5.67%), and BAHL (+5.61%) emerged as the top gainers today.

Additionally, five banks emerged as the top contributors to the index points.

Meanwhile, companies that dragged the index lower were MEBL (-382.76pts), FFC (-202.00pts), LUCK (-173.09pts), PPL (-162.14pts), and EFERT (-145.82pts).

The index traded in a vast range of 3,295.72 points showing an intraday high of 99,819.59 (+1,739.81) and a low of 96,523.87 (-1,555.91) points.

The total volume of the KSE-100 Index was 272.71 million shares.

In the broader market, the All-Share Index is trading at 60,948.04 with a net loss of 1,223.78 points or 1.97%.

To note, the KSE-100 has gained 18,086 points or 23.06% during the fiscal year, whereas it has increased 34,080 points or 54.57% so far this calendar year.

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