Stocks lose momentum as KSE-100 slips nearly 500 points

Selling continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index losing nearly 500 points as investors booked profit.

The market opened on a positive note but soon came under selling pressure around midday, leading to a broad-based pullback before staging a slight recovery later in the session.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 159,096.78, a decrease of 481.41 points or 0.3%.

“The market remained lackluster today, with sentiment weighed down by the absence of any major news flow,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.

“With no clear drivers in sight, investors chose to stay cautious, leading to another session of muted trading and range-bound activity,” it added.

Losses were largely driven by UBL, MEBL, OGDC, MLCF, and ENGROH, which collectively eroded 285 points from the index. Conversely, PSEL, COLG, HUBC, AKBL, and PTC lent partial support, adding 236 points to the benchmark, Topline said.

On Wednesday, PSX witnessed a sharp downturn as profit-taking and the absence of new market triggers weighed on investor sentiment. The KSE-100 Index plunged by 1,703.58 points, or 1.06%, to close at 159,578.19 points.

Internationally, Asian shares rose on Thursday, reversing a steep selloff from the previous session after better-than-expected US economic data drew investors back into markets trading near record highs.

Yields on US Treasuries, meanwhile, held overnight gains as traders further trimmed bets of a Federal Reserve rate cut next month, which in turn kept the dollar supported near a five-month peak.

Data on Wednesday showed the US services sector activity increased to an eight-month high in October as new orders grew solidly, while private payrolls rose 42,000 last month, exceeding expectations.

That helped lift Wall Street overnight as jitters over inflated technology stock valuations abated and upbeat company earnings also restored investors’ risk appetite.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei was up 1.5% after sliding 2.5% on Wednesday. South Korea’s Kospi also jumped more than 2% shortly after the open, having tumbled 2.85% in the previous session.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.32%.

Stock markets suffered a heavy selloff in Asia on Wednesday as concerns about stretched valuations spooked investors, though most said the slide was little cause for panic.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee registered slight improvement against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Thursday. At close, the currency settled at 280.85, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index increased to 957.30 million from 860.26 million recorded in the previous close. The value of shares declined to Rs30.45 billion from Rs34.85 billion in the previous session.

Bank Makramah was the volume leader with 93.02 million shares, followed by Pak Int.Bulk with 74.44 million shares, and K-Electric Ltd with 58.33 million shares.

Shares of 476 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 199 registered an increase, 230 recorded a fall, and 47 remained unchanged.