Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday nosedived to record worst-ever single day decline due to panic selling in all sectors by local and foreign investors on fears over coronavirus spread. BRIndex100 plunged by 266 points or 7.16 percent to close at 3,449.13 points. BRIndex100 touched intraday high of 3,673.26 and intraday low of 3,442.88 points. Volumes stood at 203.018 million shares.

BRIndex30 decreased by 1,300.61 points or 7.08 percent to close at 17,080.86 points with a turnover of 161.134 million shares. The KSE-100 Index closed at 33,684.91 points, with worst-ever single day decline of 2,375.97 points or 6.59 percent. Trading activity remained low as daily volumes on the ready counter decreased to 215.437 million shares as compared to 290.470 million shares traded last Friday.

Foreign investors remained net sellers of equities worth $0.9 million. The market capitalization declined by Rs 382 billion to Rs 6.413 trillion. Out of total 346 active scrips, 319 closed in negative, only 18 in positive while the value of 9 stocks remained unchanged.

Bank of Punjab was the volume leader with 44.377 million shares. However, it declined by Re 1.00 to close at Rs 9.10 followed by Maple Leaf that plunged by Rs 2.06 to close at Rs 25.52 with 13.508 million shares. Island Textile and Sapphire Fiber were the top gainers with Rs 91.00 and Rs 47.40, respectively to close at Rs 1,401.00 and Rs 679.40. Rafhan Maize and Unilever Foods were the top losers with Rs 213.75 and Rs 200.00, respectively to close at Rs 6,600.00 and Rs 7,100.00.

BR Automobile Assembler Index declined by 317.08 points or 5.57 percent to close at 5,376.66 points with total turnover of 875,990 shares. BR Cement Index decreased by 312.15 points or 7.37 percent to close at 3,923.88 points with 37.697 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index plunged by 612.49 points or 7.3 percent to close at 7,782.81 points with 56.427 million shares. BR Power Generation and Distribution Index shed 292.46 points or 6.24 percent to close at 4,393.43 points with 12.495 million shares. BR Oil and Gas Index fell by 260.29 points or 7.37 percent to close at 3,272.83 points with 24.380 million shares. BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 825.53 points, down 65.12 points 7.31 percent with 14.042 million shares.

Maaz Mulla at JS Global Capital said that the stock market opened in freefall as the index plummeted over 2,442 points in intra-day trading, following a plummeting equity markets across the world amid deepening corona fears. The drastic fall pushed the KSE-100 Index below the 33,620 level, triggering a halt in trading. The number of confirmed cases rose to 76 in Sindh after 41 more cases were reported in the province. Moreover, on the economic front monetary policy committee is scheduled to announce monetary policy on Tuesday, where we anticipate a 50bps cut in the policy rate.

HBL (down 7.5 percent), ENGRO (down 6.9 percent), HUBC (down 7.1 percent), MCB (down 7.5 percent), UBL (down 7.5 percent), FFC (down 6.8 percent), OGDC (down 7.5 percent), LUCK (down 7.5 percent) and PPL (down 7.5 percent) cumulatively contributed minus 1,095 points towards the negative index close.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporations said that the stocks fell across the board on investor fears over global equity halts on concerns over global impact over virus outbreak. He said slump in global crude oil prices, reports over major slowdown in exports played a catalytic role in record sell-off at PSX.