PSX sinks on JIT, 100 index sheds 1899 points

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange was ruled by the Bears on Monday with the benchmark 100-index shedding 1,899 points.

The sinking index and thin volumes, a reflection of investor confidence resulted in more selling than buying at the bourse.

While the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the Panama Papers issue was formed on May 2, the market remained positive and gained 4,000 points until the prime minister's son Hussain Nawaz was summoned.

Since his first appearance, the market began a tumble that has continued unabated. The 100-index has shed almost 8,000 points and market capitalization has fallen by some Rs. 1,214 billion.

Zeeshan Afzal at Insight Securities told Geo.tv "Investors' believe this trend will continue until the Panama case takes a particular direction," adding that with another seven days before the JIT submits its report, the downward spiral could continue.

On Monday the benchmark100-index shed 1,899 points closing the day at 44,665 with thin trading volumes. The market witnessed only 156 million shares exchanging hands valued at Rs.8,83 billion.

The market lost capitalizationby Rs.327 down to 9,195 billion.