A volatile session was observed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index unable to sustain morning gains as investors resorted to profit-taking during the final hours of trading, sending the index to close in the red zone.
At close, the KSE-100 Index settled at 167,642.27, a decrease of 419.92 points or 0.25%.
“After several consecutive sessions of robust gains, the local bourse finally paused for breath as profit-taking dominated today’s trading activity. Investors opted to lock in recent highs, steering the benchmark index through a choppy session marked by swift shifts in sentiment,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.
Among the key movers, heavyweights LUCK, BWCL, MEBL, and FABL collectively contributed 389 points to the index. On the downside, FFC, PPL, HUBC, SYS, and ENGRO exerted selling pressure, jointly eroding 569 points from the benchmark.
On the economic front, Pakistan’s trade deficit increased by nearly 33% to $2.86 billion in November 2025, as compared to the same month of the previous year, data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed on Tuesday.
On Monday, PSX opened the first session of December on a strong upward trajectory, with major indices, market capitalisation, and trading volumes all showing robust improvement, mainly due to strong institutional buying. The benchmark KSE-100 Index surged by 1,384.50 points to close at 168,062.19.
Internationally, stocks made muted gains on Tuesday, as traders remained wary following a slide in cryptocurrencies and a global bond selloff triggered by a looming interest rate hike in Japan.
S&P 500 futures were steady in early trade, after falls on Wall Street overnight, while Japanese government bonds remained under pressure ahead of a 10-year auction after a weeks-long tumble on concern about the nation’s fiscal outlook.
Ten-year JGB yields ticked up 1.5 basis points to a 17-year top of 1.88% in morning trade.
Bitcoin, which has been a talisman for sentiment, had an unsettling 5.2% slump on Monday and at $87,000 is down 30% from an October peak.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.6% while Tokyo’s Nikkei crept 0.5% higher after logging a sharp drop on Monday.
The Pakistani rupee strengthened against the US dollar, appreciating 0.01% in the inter-bank market on Tuesday. At close, the local currency settled at 280.47, a gain of Re0.04 against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index increased to 775.54 million from 735.52 million recorded in the previous close. The value of shares declined to Rs37.49 billion from Rs46.19 billion in the previous session.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 169.05 million shares, followed by K-Electric Ltd with 40.60 million shares, and F. Nat.Equities with 37.15 million shares.
Shares of 479 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 182 registered an increase, 254 recorded a fall, and 43 remained unchanged.
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