Pak Stock Exchange plunges 1,200 points

The newly formed Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a sharp decline of 1,200 points today in early trading, just after one week of its opening.
Market analysts said that the fall in the PSX which is a merger of the Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad stock exchanges index occurred because of the uncertain economic conditions globally and in Pakistan.
An analyst said that the nosedive occurred when the benchmark 100-index took a fall of 1,214 points from 31,001.49 to 29787.27 - a drop of 3.91 per cent.
Following the plummet, shares picked up again marginally, reaching a level of 29,969.29. Since the PSX was launched last Monday it has faced falls due to the falling global stock prices and low crude prices.

"One example is oil prices today slid to their slowest since 2003 after economic sanctions were lifted on Iran on Sunday," investor Ali Zaidi said.
Intikhab Ali with capital securities said there had been a fall in share prices in overall capital markets in the region as well as a drop in oil prices.

"I think the foreign and local investors have been selling their shares in panic due to the sharp drop in crude oil prices and worries about the health of the Chinese economy."
He noted that the drop in shares and points was in tandem with world equity markets.

Ali said the Stock market might have also taken a plunge after the Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) action against brokers and firms in recent days.
Sources in the PSX said that its board of directors is scheduled to meet later today to discuss the FIA involvement in affairs of the exchange as big brokers were throwing their weight behind the board to demand that the FIA first consult and take the chief regulator, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), into confidence before moving against a stockbroker or his firm and its officials.
Over the past week, the stock market benchmark 100-share index plummeted by 1,534 points.