Pakistan stocks fall on political uncertainty

Karachi: Pakistani stocks fell more than 4 per cent on Tuesday to a new two-year low as investors sold blue chips such as Oil and Gas Development Co (OGDC) on fears a break-up in the coalition government would raise political uncertainty.

The second largest party in the coalition announced late on Monday it was pulling out.

The benchmark Karachi Stock Exchange index ended down 3.9 per cent at 9,430.29 points, the sharpest one-day fall since July 28, after falling as much as 4.38 per cent.

Tuesday's decline took the market to a level last seen on August 28, 2006.

OGDC, Pakistan's biggest firm by market value, fell 5 per cent.

MCB Bank, Pakistan's largest bank by stock market value, was down 5 per cent, and state-run Pakistan Petroleum fell 4 per cent.

"The run up to the elections will keep political uncertainty high and markets volatile," said Imtiaz Gadar, an analyst at JPMorgan.

"However, we do expect more clarity on this front following presidential elections, once it is established which party will lead in the power game," he said.