Pakistan stocks fall 2 pct Brexit volatility

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani shares fell 2 percent in early trading on Friday, hurt by a global sell-off in risk assets after Britain voted to leave the European Union.At 1017 local time (0517GMT), the benchmark 100-share index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange traded 1.96 percent lower at 37,484.18 points.”It’s due to Brexit. It’s the volatility in global markets,” said Saad Hashmey, chief economist and director of research for Topline Securities.Traders said banking and oil stocks were leading the decline.Southeast Asian stock markets plunged on Friday as investors went on a selling spree after Britons voted to leave the European Union.World financial markets dived as nearly complete results showed a 51.7/48.3 percent split for leaving the 28-member bloc.Sterling suffered its biggest one-day fall of more than 9 percent against the dollar, hitting its lowest level in three decades on market fears the decision will hit investment in the world’s fifth largest economy.Commodity markets slumped as well, with oil prices falling more than 4 percent in Asian trading.”We think UK’s EU exit will generate large volatility in the market given most market participants were betting on a Bremain scenario,” said Taye Shim, a strategist with Daewoo Securities in Indonesia.”Today’s movement is a clear evidence that markets hate unpredictable uncertainties.”Singapore shares were heading for their biggest percentage loss in more than four months, while Vietnam ‘fell over 3 percent.In the city state, most sectors dropped over 1 percent with oil and gas stocks leading the losses.Vietnam shares fell, led by energy stocks including Petrovietnam Gas Joint Stock Corp, while the Philippine market fell nearly 2 percent, after hitting a 13-month high in early trading.Malaysian stocks hit a one-week low, weighed down by consumer cyclicals, while Thai shares slid nearly 3 percent as the energy sector took a hit.Indonesia fell over 2 percent with consumer cyclicals leading the losses.”Although we see limited direct impact of UK’s EU exit on Indonesia, we believe the spillover will place negative repercussions on risky assets including Indonesia,” said Taye Shim of Daewoo Securities.Asian stocks were down with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 5.1 percent.