Government Decision and Its Impact on Market Confidence during COVID-19: Empirical Analysis of Pakistan Stock Exchange

COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on global economies. The economy of Pakistan has been severely influenced by the virus; its industries were directly affected. Consequently, tremendous fluctuations were observed in Pakistan Stock Exchange, leading to unstable share prices which created uncertainty in the stock market. This paper studies the effect of COVID-19 on PSX by observing fluctuations in the Pakistani stock market. Five major industries are selected namely Pharmaceutical, Oil & Gas, Commercial Banking, Food & Personal Care Products and Chemical. Using descriptive statistics quarterly and industrial averages are compared. Secondary data is collected from the Data Portal of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). The findings of the study suggest that in terms of average stock high & average closing stock price Pharmaceutical sector experienced the greatest percentage change from 1st quarter - 3rd quarter whereas in terms of average volume of shares, Food & Personal Care Products recorded the greatest change during the 2nd – 3rd quarter.