KARACHI: The Karachi Stock Exchange’s benchmark KSE-100 on Tuesday consolidated its upward march and gained 766.55 points to reach 29260.29, defying the prevailing bleak political scenario triggered by the ongoing sit-ins and subsequent police-protesters clashes at Red Zone in the federal capital.
Despite gloom and doom prevailed across the political spectrum, the KSE-100 index, opened at 28493, recovered from overnight loses and kept on marching upward, taking the total trade volume to 131,871,010 shares.
The highest increase witnessed in price of the Fauji Cement, Telecard Limited, Jah.Sidd. Co, Engro Corporation while the UniLever Pak, Siemens Pakistan, Shield Corporation and Millat Tractors Ltd remained the biggest losers of the day.
As a whole 44.37 per cent of companies witnessed increase in their shares while 8.11 per cent lost their share value and 1.66 per cent companies remained stable
The market seems to have been responded to the optimism fuelled by hopes pinned on the Supreme Court and the army amid the rallying calls for the PM’s resignation.
On the other hand, the Supreme Court issued notices to all parliamentary parties in a petition seeking resolution to deadlock that has made the economy to bleed.
The political crisis in Pakistan remains at fever pitch as both the PML-N led government and protesting Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Pakistan Awami Tehreek refuse to budge on their respective positions.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif stands firm in the face of growing pressure for his resignation, and the protesting PTI and PAT are adamant on standing their ground in the capital’s high-security red zone.
On Monday the KSE-100 index lost 74 points and closed at 28493.74 after braving the tremors of clashes between the police and protesters in the Red Zone.