Midday Report: KSE loses points left, right and center!

August 5, 2019 (MLN): Indo-Pak bout has reawakened after a rather short nap on the Line of Control this time, causing another series of chaos within Pakistan and India both as their respective bourse lost out in intraday trade today.

The issue ignited when India accused Pakistan Army of targeting the LOC in North Kashmir with no less than 8 attempts by border action teams (BAT) to dismantle the Indian Army personnel deployed there, between July 13 and August 4.

The Inter-Service Public Relation (ISPR) denied these allegations by flatly calling them out as nothing but a propaganda to readdress international attention from Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir.

DG ISPR Asif Ghafoor issued a statement on the matter where he said that, “Indian allegations of cross LOC action by Pakistan and possession of bodies are mere propaganda. Such blatant lies / staged dramas are Indian disinformation manoeuvre to divert world attention from increased atrocities by Indian occupation forces inside the occupied Kashmir."

The local equity market being the most sensitive and quick to exhibit the aftermath of this spat has turned red in intraday trade today. The benchmark KSE – 100 index slipped through the 31,000 point mark briefly after constantly edging dangerously close to the mark for the first few hours.

It’s ironic how a few months back, the idea that the benchmark index would fall as low as 31,000 points due to Indo-Pak pressure seemed ridiculously far-fetched, but now, here we are, standing merely 14 points away from falling below the yardstick (12:37 pm PST) as the index is reported at 31,014 points. .

To add salt to the injury, the State Enterprise Fund worth Rs.20 billion that was to be introduced in order to arrest the sliding stock market, is also in jeopardy.

Local daily has reported that the fund’s launch has been delayed due to certain limitations put by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which prevent the government from issuing the sovereign guarantee.

This is another contribution to the worries of an already panic stricken stock market.

The benchmark index has been trading within a range of 687 points as of now and has touched an intraday low of 30,978 points which is the first time since Feb 26, 2016 when the low was recorded at 30,802 points.

The last time kse100 closed below 31,000 points was on Feb 25, 2016.

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