PSX observes an early sell-off as declining oil prices take a toll

June 3, 2019 (MLN): The sharp decline in US crude oil prices, along with the building anticipation for upcoming budget announcement has materialized into a heavy, unmanageable weight for Pakistan’s stock market today as the benchmark KSE – 100 index staggers by 449 points in early trade, thus reporting an intraday low of 35,525 points.

As of now, the index is trading at 35,608 points which marks a decline of 365 points or 1.02% from previous session’s closing value.

The US crude oil price has declined by $6.2 in the last two sessions, as it plays off fear of a global economic slowdown due to ongoing trade war between US and China.

The US crude price trickled down from $59.10 on Thursday, to $52.90 today, while Brent of British crude oil dropped by $8.5 to $61.1.

This in turn impacts the local Oil & Gas Exploration Sector which is currently performing the worst on KSE – 100 index as it takes away 170 points from it.

In addition to this, the budget for financial year 2019-2020 is scheduled to be announced on June 11, 2019 which is two more trading sessions away from now. The rising anxiety and uncertainty on that front is another reason for the market participants to incline towards a sell-off in today’s trade.

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