Daily Times

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a bloodbath on Monday amid uncertainty among investors over the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision regarding the policy rate, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index losing 1,047.71 points (-1.44 percent) to close at 71,695.03 points. The MPC of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) kept the key interest rate unchanged at 22 percent for the seventh straight meeting, an announcement that was made after market hours. The key policy rate has remained unchanged at 22 percent since June 2023. The central bank’s policy decision is to be followed by another key development, the IMF Executive Board meeting, to discuss the approval of $1.1 billion in funding for Pakistan, which is the last tranche of the $3 billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) with the IMF. Earlier, the market opened on a sharp positive note as strong buying was witnessed in the initial hours of the session. However, profit-taking switched in soon after the benchmark index crossed the 73,000 points level. However, a selling spree soon took hold of the market and pushed the index below 72,000. Selling pressure was witnessed among all key sectors.