Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), which had won the title of Asia’s best performing stock market in August 2020, took a U-turn and became the third worst performing market in the region. Amid the boiling political temperature and melting economy, investors witnessed the wipeout of 16.27% (or Rs1.35 trillion) of investment at the PSX. The petroleum refinery was the worst-hit sector in terms of losing market capitalisation.
Sales of petroleum products dropped to a six-and-a-half-year low at 4.42 million tons in the quarter ended September 30, 2019, as a contraction in industrial output. Moreover, this is the eighth successive quarter in which oil sales continued to fall in the country. Major decline in sales of furnace oil and high-speed diesel was also witnessed due to lack of requirement in power generation and drop in vehicle sales.