Assassination attempt on former Pak PM Imran Khan spooks investors; Pakistan Stock Exchange sinks by over 200 points

By admin On Nov 4, 2022

KARACHI: The assassination attempt on former Pakistan premier Imran Khan and the political uncertainty in the country spooked the investors on Friday, with the Karachi Stock Exchange plunging by over 200 points.

Khan, 70, suffered a bullet injury in the right leg when a gun-wielding man fired a volley of bullets at him and others mounting on a container-mounted truck in the Wazirabad area of Punjab province, where he was leading a protest march against the government.

The benchmark KSE-100 index, which opened in the red on Friday, lost 234.4 points, or 0.56 per cent, to close at 41,856.31 points.

Pakistan rupee, however, registered a marginal gain against the US dollar on Friday, and improved 0.01 per cent in the inter-bank market.

The market sentiments are down because no one is sure what is going to happen in the next few days, a foreign currency dealer said.

Muhammad Zubair, the head of equities at the Capital investments firm, said there will hardly be any investments until there is clarity in the country’s politics.

Everyone is waiting to see the reaction of Imran and his party and whether we are going to see more politics of confrontation in the coming days, which will only further destablise the economic situation, he observed.

Analysts noted that the markets had shown positive signs before Khan’s assassination attempt, because of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Abdu laziz Al-Saud’s upcoming visit to the country and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif recent trip to China to revive the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects.

Khan was shifted by road to his own-built Shaukat Khanum medical facility in Lahore where an operation was performed and was stable after it, according to PTI.

PTI said Khan is stable now.

Khan’s supporters took to the streets in various parts of the country on Friday, in retaliation to the assassination attempt on the former premier and press for snap elections. (PTI)