Stocks shed 705 points, wipe out this year’s gains
KARACHI: The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index came crashing down by 705 points on Monday, with Rs123 billion wiped off market capitalisation.
The index, which tumbled for the ninth session in a row, settled at a two-month low of 32,255 points. To the disappointment of investors in equities, the loss of 2.14 per cent on Monday washed away almost all the remaining 2.6pc return that the market had provided since the beginning of the year.
“So we are back to square one with a zero return after keeping money in high-risk stock investment for a whole year,” sulked one dejected stock investor.
Foreign selling intensified on Monday amounting to $8.17m, taking the year-to-date outflow at $280.9m.
Zubair Ghulamhusain, head of equities at Foundation Securities, observed that foreign funds were setting the tone of the market. Panic selling was triggered by local investors who were spooked by unstoppable foreign outflows.