Governor’s rule in KP rattles stock market

Dawn reported that the benchmark KSE-100 index closed Monday at 165,124.41, shedding 1,964.87 points, a 1.18 per cent decline, after falling roughly 1,920 points during the session. Sentiment soured once the centre declared an emergency in PTI-ruled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a step endorsed by President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday on cabinet advice. Market participants grew wary as political uncertainty deepened.

The main laggards were United Bank, Oil and Gas Development Company, Habib Bank, Meezan Bank and Lucky Cement, which together took about 645 points off the index. Treet Corporation led the volume chart with 27m shares, as volume over the weekend session climbed 17.3pc to 362.95m shares. Turnover rose 6.02pc to Rs14.5bn, though participation stayed far below the 500 million share mark.

Crude prices also added pressure, with Brent up $2.07 to $106.79 a barrel after attacks on Saudi Arabia. An IMF staff-level agreement, which paves the way for $1.2 billion in releases subject to board approval, failed to support the market recently. According to Ali Najib of Arif Habib Ltd, a brief value-buying rebound proved short-lived and the session closed firmly lower.