Karachi (Staff Report): The KSE-100 index on Wednesday shed 240 points to below 40,600 points.
At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a decrease of 240.06 points or 0.59% to settle at 40,560.19.
It was the third consecutive drop for the stock market when almost all major stocks fell. However, fertiliser shares displayed exceptional performance and rose despite the selling pressure.
Earlier the day, the National Assembly (NA) has passed the Finance Supplementary (Amendment) Bill 2018.
Finance Minister Asad Umar presented the supplementary finance bill.
The opposition members challenged Clause 2 of the amendment and demanded that there should be headcount on it as NA speaker Asad Qaiser, while chairing a session of on Wednesday, initiated the voting process on the bill through verbal voting.
During the headcount, 158 voted in favour of Clause 2 while 120 opposed it.
A clause-wise approval of the bill was then sought in the assembly. The last amendment in the bill was presented by a Pakistan Peoples Party member and was regarding the increase in salaries of lawmakers and a request for the right to withdraw pension.
Finance Minister Umar objected to the recommended amendment and said, “It cannot be approved as the country’s economy is not in a state to allow it.”
The National Assembly then rejected four amendments put forth by the opposition, and approved the bill through majority votes.