PSX extends losses on economic uncertainty

Dawn reported that the Pakistan Stock Exchange slid for a third straight session on Wednesday as tension in the Strait of Hormuz lifted oil prices and inflation worries. Topline Securities said the benchmark KSE-100 declined by 698.56 points, equal to 0.40 per cent, and finished at 171,943.60. Trading ranged between 171,802 and 173,174 during the session. Brent crude futures climbed past $100 a barrel, a level not seen since late July, following Iran and US strikes on tankers, the largest such wave since hostilities began.

Higher production costs and expected interest rate increases to contain inflation could weigh further on industry and trade, which are already subdued, and push back hopes of a recovery. The trade gap widened early in the current fiscal year as imports grew more expensive and exports lagged, adding strain to reserves already burdened by large external debt.

Market participation thinned, with volume falling 33.89 per cent, reaching 477.6 million shares, while traded value dropped 18.98 per cent to Rs22.6 billion. Cnergyico PK led the volume table with 65.8 million shares. Remittances also rose 17 per cent year on year to $3.7bn in August, while the two-month total climbed 15 per cent to $7.3bn.