Stocks at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) experience a staggering plummet of almost 400 points!

On the trading battlefield of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), bears persist in their ruthless domination, unleashing chaos fueled by pre-election uncertainty and exorbitant leverage costs.

In a tumultuous turn of events, the KSE-100 index nosedived by a staggering 1484.58 points at 1:40 pm, plunging to 61,345 and marking a heart-stopping 2.21% descent from the previous day’s close at 62,833.03, as reported on the PSX website.

The market, gripped by a sense of impending doom, witnessed a partial recovery later in the day. However, the closing bell tolled with the index standing at 62,448.01 points, bearing the scars of a 385-point or 0.61% drop from the previous day’s close.

In a shocking twist the day before, shares experienced the second-largest overnight freefall in the 32-year history of the benchmark index. A staggering 94 shares of the KSE-100 index faced a brutal beating, while the remaining six either valiantly advanced or stoically closed flat.

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Analysts, the soothsayers of this financial battleground, pointed accusing fingers at profit-hungry investors who, in their frenzied pursuit, believed the market was ablaze after a meteoric surge of 25,000 points in recent months.

Ahsan Mehanti, the oracle and chief executive of Arif Habib Commodities said that the chief architects of this bearish spectacle were none other than the twin demons of pre-election uncertainty and the specter of diminishing foreign inflows. He illuminated the stage, revealing that investor fears of “high leverage and high leverage cost played a catalyst role” in this macabre performance.

Shahbaz Ashraf, the sage chief investment officer at Karachi-based FRIM Ventures, deciphered the cryptic signs of the market, attributing the downward spiral to a multitude of factors. The leveraged position, he prophesied, was “being squared up as leverage has doubled to Rs40 billion from Rs20bn in the last few months.” The banking sector, sensing the impending storm, sought to capitalize on profits and secure gains.

Yet, Ashraf declared that behind the scenes, the fundamentals guiding this financial dance remained unaltered.

In the midst of this financial tempest, Mohammed Sohail, the bold chief executive of Topline Securities, declared that the market’s over-leveraged position was the catalyst for the bearish onslaught. “With the year ending, the big players on the stock market are on the sideline,” he proclaimed, as the year-end approached, and the mighty players on the stock market stood as spectators.

Raza Jafri, the vigilant head of equities at Intermarket Securities, raised the banner of caution, proclaiming that this week’s “correction continues on a combination of unwinding leveraged positions and returning nervousness as elections approach.” The financial arena quivered as the specter of uncertainty loomed large, and the bears reveled in their continued dominance.