PSX bleeds, loses 2,200 points amid simmering dispute with India
Business
KSE-100 lost 2,500 points during early hours of trading and slightly recovered on Thursday
KARACHI (Dunya News) – The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday witnessed steep downward spiral at the start of the day amid simmering geopolitical tensions and the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) forecast of declining growth rate.
As a result of rising concerns, the benchmark KSE-100 index hovered at 114,661 points after losing more than 2,500 points during early hours of trading. Later, the situation somewhat improved but the key index closed at 115,019 after losing 2,206 points.
Panic-selling was observed in key stocks including UBL, HUBC, HMB, MARI, and ENGROH.
On Wednesday, the benchmark index was closed at 117,226.15 after losing 1,204.21 points.
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“This reversal in sentiment can largely be attributed to escalating regional geopolitical tensions, which prompted investors to adopt a cautious stance and lock in recent gains,” Topline Securities stated in its post-market report after the stocks traded in red.
IMF cuts growth rate forecast of Pakistan to 2.6pc amid global tariff uncertainty
On Wednesday, the international creditor revised down the economic growth forecast of Pakistan to 2.6 percent from previous 3pc.
It also slashed the global outlook due to the uncertainty sparked by the reciprocal tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on several countries, including Pakistan.
The IMF also projected a decline in Pakistan’s economic growth for the next fiscal year 2025-26.
In its World Economic Outlook report released in January 2025, the financial agency had estimated Pakistan’s economic growth for the current fiscal year at 3pc.
The IMF, in October 2024, had projected Pakistan’s economic growth for the current fiscal year at 3.2%. However, the latest projection shows that the economic output of the South Asian country will slow and it may miss the growth target.
On the other hand, the IMF has reduced its estimate for Pakistan’s current account deficit from 1pc of GDP to 0.1pc.
Previously, the IMF expected the current account deficit would rise to $3.7 billion, but it has now been revised down to $400 million.
The IMF has stated that in the next fiscal year, the current account deficit is also expected to remain at 0.4% of GDP.
