Interest rate hike sees PSX in meltdown, sheds over 800 points

The decision of the State Bank of Pakistan to hike the interest rate to amongst the highest in the country’s history on Friday amid a slowing economy saw any investor confidence evaporate in the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) which saw it fall cumulatively by 900 points to 42,071.34.

As the morning bell rang, the sentiment told through intense selling pressure on Monday.

The benchmark KSE-100 index initially fell 748.3 points from 42,936.73 points to a low of 42,188.43 points.

It then made slight recovery to 42,280.94 points during early trading.

However, it then continued to lose another 200 points as it dipped to a low of 42,037.60 points, down by a cumulative 899.13 points.

Amongst the sectors pushing the benchmark KSE-100 index downwards included the Cement sector, showing a negative change of 198.27 points.

K-Electric Limited (KEL) was observed to be the volume leader with a difference of 6.14% and 29.02 million shares traded.

Earlier on Friday, the KSE-100 ended the trading session at 42,936.73 points from the previously closed value of 42,903.65 on Thursday.