Free-fall continues as KSE-100 plummets 1,000 points

KARACHI: Pakistani stocks continued their free-fall at the start of the week, with the benchmark Karachi Stock Exchange 100-index falling over 1,000 points or 3.5 per cent during trading on Monday.

The benchmark index was at a six-month low of 28,927.04 points at the close of trading, down 1,030.79 points or 3.34 per cent.

The index has shed over 4,600 points during the last two months, with experts estimating that investors have lost now lost over USD10 billion or Rs 1 trillion.

Mohammad Sohail, CEO of Topline Securities, said the bearish trend was “largely due to different rumours circulating in the market”. The market has been abuzz with speculation about leveraged investors selling stocks to meet margin calls.

Panic-selling was seen across all sectors the previous week too as stocks fell like nine-pins, going under the 30,000-level after 22 weeks.