KARACHI: The Pakistan stock market dropped 685 points to three-and-half-year low in intra-day trading, falling below 31,000 points due to escalation in Pakistan-India tension along the Line of Control.
At 12:58, the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Index was down 579 points to stand around 31,087 points.
The market was down due to “India, Kashmir and Pakistan issue,” Alpha Beta Core CEO Khurram Schehzad said in a comment to media.
India’s government on Monday revoked the special status of occupied Kashmir and rushed through a presidential decree in a bid to fully integrate its only Muslim-majority region with the rest of the country, hours after imposing a major security clampdown in the region.
Home Minister Amit Shah told parliament that the president had signed a decree abolishing Article 370 of the constitution giving special autonomy to the Muslim-majority Himalayan region. The decision has also pulled Indian stock market down, Schehzad added.
“Mumbai stock market is also down 642 points, trading around 36,476 points. The stock market slipped below $1.9 trillion after almost two years.”
Earlier, the PSX was down due to economic slowdown, hike in key interest rate and massive rupee depreciation in the past two years. Stocks across the board witnessed selling pressure.
