Stocks succumb to selling pressure

Heavy selling swept through the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday as investor confidence took a beating in the face of concerns about foreign debt repayments and potential changes to the European Union (EU) Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) Plus status. In the morning, trading opened on a positive note after a day's closure on account of Kashmir Solidarity Day and with modest buying the KSE-100 index reached its intra-day high of 112,234.15 points. However, soon afterwards, the index took a vertical slide. After some recovery, it remained on a downward trend and touched the intra-day low of 109,405.54 after midday. It finished trading down by nearly 1,650 points. There were worries about the possibility of reduced GSP Plus benefits for Pakistan that could impact trade relations and the businesses relying on preferential access to the EU markets.