clocked in at $2.4 billion<\/a> while a current account surplus was also \u201canticipated\u201d.<\/p>\n\u201cThis could alleviate speculative pressure on the rupee and support the market in coming days.\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Awais Ashraf, director of research at Akseer Research, said, \u201cThe delay in the formation of the government due to lack of lack of clear mandate for one party creates uncertainty among investors\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe likelihood of the continuation of the Pakistan Democratic Movement formation raises concerns on initiation of stricter reforms necessary to curtail fiscal deficit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Exploration and production companies \u2014 such as Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) and Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) \u2014 experienced the largest decline due to delays in the approval of the circular debt clearance programme from the IMF, he said.<\/p>\n
Shahab Farooq, director of research at Next Capital Limited, said the PSX opened in the negative with weak sentiments as \u201cinvestors are preferring to be on the sidelines for now\u201d.<\/p>\n
He cited \u201cpersistent uncertainties\u201d surrounding the formation of the next government, expectations of a \u201cweak coalition government with a \u201cstrong opposition\u201d, the fall in Pakistan\u2019s international bonds and the \u201cred flag\u201d raised by the IMF regarding the proposed circular debt reduction plan as the reasons for the losses.<\/p>\n
\u201cEarly formation of a government with a focus on economic challenges is likely to rebuild investor confidence in a market trading at attractive valuations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mohammed Sohail, chief executive of Topline Securities, said stocks plunged 1,000 points after \u201ccoalition government uncertainty and news of delay in resolution of circular debt management plan\u201d.<\/p>\n
On Friday, stocks had finished the tumultuous three-session election week on a negative note<\/a> as the \u201cunusual delay\u201d in announcing election results created uncertainty among investors about a smooth return to a stable political government.<\/p>\nAs a result, the KSE 100-share index came under renewed selling pressure settling the short week below 63,000. On Friday, the equities fell like a house of cards and the index plunged by 2,300 points intraday as an inordinate delay in election results triggered aggressive selling.<\/p>\n
However, the index got some support after the Election Commission of Pakistan announced more results towards the closing of trading and the news of a likely sovereign rating upgrade by Standard and Poor\u2019s (S&P) to \u201cB\u201d from \u201cCCC+\u201d helped the market closed the session with a trimmed loss of 1,200 points.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n