Donald Trump’s projected victory threw market participants into a selling frenzy as profit-taking began with the KSE-100 Index taking a U-turn to go into the red on Wednesday.
Fox News projected that Republican Donald Trump has won the US presidency, defeating Democrat Kamala Harris and capping a stunning political comeback four years after he left the White House. Other media outlets have yet to call the race.
Soon after the reports, the PSX’s benchmark index took the turn into the red, with the KSE-100 plummeting from an earlier intra-day high of 92,966.94 to 91,891.47.
At 1:15pm, the benchmark index was hovering at 92,008.59, a decrease of 295.73 points or 0.32%.
Trump’s presidency is largely seen as a change in policy at the White House with some experts calling it an overall negative for Pakistan’s economy.
“It is a knee-jerk reaction from investors amid reports that Republican candidate Donald Trump has won the US presidency,” Sana Tawfik, Head of Research at Arif Habib Limited (AHL), told media.
The analyst said uncertainty regarding what policies will be implemented by Trump, particularly with respect to Pakistan-US ties, is playing on the investor minds.
“However, the impact is expected to be temporary as economic fundamentals remain strong,” she added.
Earlier, buying was witnessed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, OMCs, power generation and refinery.
Wednesday’s session comes after the PSX has seen a bull run in recent weeks with market experts attributing the optimism to the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) recent policy rate cut of 250bps, bringing the interest rate down to 15%.
This aggressive monetary easing has spurred investor interest, reflected in heightened buying at the PSX.
On Tuesday, the benchmark index hit new highest-ever level amid buying mainly led by local investors coupled with institutional support. The KSE-100 Index increased by 366.32 points or 0.40% and crossed the historic 92,000 psychological level to close at 92,304.32, its highest-ever level.
Internationally, the US dollar surged and bitcoin hit a record high on Wednesday while equity markets advanced as traders bet on a victory for Trump.
Bitcoin piled almost $6,000 higher to a record $75,005.06, topping its previous peak of $73,797.98 hit in March.
Trump pledged during the campaign to make the United States “the world capital of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies”.
This is an intra-day update
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