Stock exchange closes with drop of 225 points

KARACHI: The decline of the KSE-100 index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued on Friday with an initial dip of 910 points at around 10am.

As a result, the KSE 100-index reached a level of 47,880 points.

However, when the PSX stopped trading, the index had come down 225 points and closed at 48,555 points. 

On Thursday, during trading, the benchmark index was down -4.4% which is the steepest fall since August 11, 2014 when the market fell by -4.5%.

The move came as a surprise as expectations were on the contrary with the stock exchange's inclusion in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index — which happened on Thursday. 

As the federal 2017-18 budget was announced, a trend was witnessed in the market with investors selling their shares. 

This is because of the increase in tax on dividends from 12.5% to 15%. The shares that were bought on July 1, 2013 now have a tax of 15% on them.

The increase in taxes has a negative impact on the share market, according to financial analyst Muzammil Aslam.

On Wednesday the KSE-100 index saw a decline of 861 points while on Tuesday the index lost 685 points.