KARACHI: Pakistan equities lost ground on Thursday with benchmark KSE-100 Index losing 1,123 points or 2.8 percent, falling below the 39,000 level to close at a 17?month low of 38,785 points. The KSE?100 Index was 38,368 points on July 11, 2016. Market opened lower and declined steadily with sentiments mainly dented as cleric Tahirul Qadri hinted at a protest against government over Model Town incident issue while opposition parties PTI and PPP also pledged their support for the protest call. “Panic gripped investors’ sentiments as nationwide protests called in after US president recognised Jerusalem as new Israeli capital raising concerns for regional uncertainty. Investors booked profit after proposals circulated for new rules in scrip level circuit breakers up to 15 percent over phases amid concerns for economic uncertainty”, Ahsan Mehanti, senior analyst, said. An amalgamation of local politics where opposition political parties are allegedly planning a sit?in against Model Town tragedy, US decision to make Jerusalem the capital of Israel, domestic individuals panicking over upcoming change in the trading circuit breaker rules, along with overnight dip in crude oil prices have all culminated towards the sell?off. Volumes increased 9% day-on-day while value traded soared 58%. What started as a knee-jerk reaction to rise in political noise in early trading turned into a full-blown hammering across the board as the day progressed with notable blue chips skidding lower and leading the declines and institutional sellers struggling to offload amid no serious buyers on the screen. Both Sui Northern Gas Co (SNGP PA -5%) and Kot Addu Power Co (KAPCO PA -5%) extended sharp losses for the third day; former on uncertainty over proposed return by oil & gas regulator and latter on concerns that PPA extension was unlikely beyond FY21 and deal with Hub Power HUBC (PA -3.1%) might not materialise, analyst at Elixir Securities said. KSE?100 Index market cap in dollar terms was back to 2008 levels, when the index was circa 15,000 points and market cap peaked at $75.3 billion (KSE?100 was 15,472 points on April 4, 2008) before the 2008 crash. Top 10 Index point decliners were HBL (?3.9%), UBL (?4.8%), ENGRO (?3.4%), OGDC (?2.2%), PSO (?5%), POL (?3.2%), FFC (?3.8%), HUBC (?3.1%), MCB (?2.3%) and LUCK (?2.3%); withholding 523 points, while 8 stocks closed in the green adding just 18 points. Analysts expect volatile trading as market may remain under pressure on caution over domestic politics. Published in Daily Times, December 8th 2017.