The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) has suffered a major collapse due to the ongoing political unrest in the country. PSX, which previously held the title of the most efficient stock market in Asia in 2020, is now the third most efficient stock market in Asia. It is probably the second-worst market in the current fiscal year, after Sri Lanka itself. Market capitalization (the total value of all listed companies) fell steadily below PKR 6.95 trillion on Thursday, compared to 8.29 trillion PKR in June 2024.
In terms of market capitalization loss, the oil refining sector is the most affected. In March, the sector’s capitalization was PKR 66 billion, compared to PKR 146.56 billion at the end of June 2024. According to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2024-22, the cement sector lost 24% of its market capitalization between July and March of fiscal year 22, while car fitters lost 13%.
PSX was the third-worst performance in the Asian market after the benchmark KSE-100 5.1 percent (or 2,427 points) fell and closed at 44, 929 points on March 31st in the first nine months (July-March) of the next fiscal year. The data suggests that PSX has become the second most powerful market in the region after Sri Lanka in the current fiscal year (July-June FY22), as found.
The performance of the Pakistan Stock Exchange triggered a boom and a crash during the fiscal year 2024 (July-March) due to geopolitical tensions, especially the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and political uncertainty in the country, the survey said.
