KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) snapped its multi-week winning streak during the last week as renewed geopolitical tensions following fresh US-Iran military strikes dampened investor sentiment, prompting widespread selling and dragging the benchmark index lower.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index declined by 1.7 percent on a week-on-week basis, losing 3,130.43 points to close at 182,241.77 points after opening the week at 185,372.20 points.
Business Recorder’s benchmark indices also ended the week in the red. The BRIndex100 declined by 380.83 points, closing at 20,064.93 points after opening the week at 20,445.76 points. The index recorded a total weekly turnover of 4.115 billion shares, translating into an average daily turnover (ADTO) of approximately 823.0 million shares.
Similarly, the BRIndex30 shed 1,445.74 points to settle at 73,733.77 points from its opening level of 75,179.51 points. The index posted a total weekly turnover of 2.551 billion shares, with the average daily turnover working out to approximately 510.2 million shares.
The decline in equities also eroded the market’s overall valuation, with PSX market capitalization falling 1.2 percent to Rs20.503 trillion from Rs20.763 trillion a week earlier. In dollar terms, market capitalization decreased to USD73.74 billion from US$74.65 billion.
Analysts stated that global geopolitical tensions continued to influence market direction as Brent crude oil prices climbed 4.7 percent week-on-week to USD75.5 per barrel.
Reflecting concerns over higher energy prices and external uncertainties, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) revised Pakistan’s FY27 economic growth forecast downward to 3.7 percent from 4.5 percent and also raised its inflation outlook.
On the domestic front, total government debt reached Rs82 trillion as of May 2026. Meanwhile, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported that workers’ remittances reached a record USD41.6 billion during FY26, reflecting annual growth of 9 percent. However, the central bank discontinued incentive payments to commercial banks on home remittances from July 2026 as part of a policy overhaul.
The government also continued efforts to diversify its borrowing sources by planning to issue its first dollar-settled, rupee-linked bonds alongside fresh Eurobond and Sukuk issuances.
In the latest Treasury Bill auction, the government raised Rs1.92 trillion, while cut-off yields declined across all tenors.
Meanwhile, technical teams from Pakistan and the United States held discussions in Washington on a proposed reciprocal trade agreement, with tariff reductions forming a key part of the negotiations. During the week, the SBP’s foreign exchange reserves increased by US$1.9 billion to reach US$18 billion, supported by inflows from multilateral institutions.
Trading activity at PSX remained mixed across market segments. Average daily turnover (ADTO) on the ready market increased 23.8 percent to 1.071 billion shares from 864.99 million shares in the previous week. However, average daily traded value remained almost unchanged at Rs47.68 billion compared with Rs47.66 billion a week earlier, while the dollar value edged up marginally to USD171.46 million from USD171.33 million.
Sector-wise trading activity was led by the Refinery sector, which accounted for 13 percent of total market volume. Technology & Communication and Investment Banks each contributed 11 percent, followed by Commercial Banks with 9 percent and the Property sector with 6 percent, while all other sectors collectively accounted for the remaining 51 percent.
In terms of sectoral performance, Refineries emerged as the best-performing sector with gains of 8.8 percent, followed by Chemicals, up 0.2 percent, while the Automobile sector remained unchanged.
Commercial banks declined 0.1 percent, Engineering slipped 0.2 percent, Oil Marketing Companies lost 0.6 percent, food fell 1.2 percent, while both the benchmark KSE-100 Index and the fertilizer sector declined 1.7 percent. Cement fell 2.3 percent, Pharmaceuticals and Power each lost 2.4 percent, Exploration and Production companies declined 3.0 percent, Technology & Communication fell 3.4 percent, while textile composite was the worst-performing sector, dropping 3.8 percent.
Among individual stocks, IBFL led the gainers with a 25.9 percent increase to Rs341.73, followed by GHNI, which gained 17.5 percent to Rs1,168.32, CNERGY up 16.5 percent to Rs9.69, PGLC rising 8.6 percent to Rs15.86, LOTCHEM adding 7.1 percent to Rs31.46, SHFA increasing 6.8 percent to Rs543.69 and GAL advancing 4.1 percent to Rs607.97.
On the losing side, MEHT declined 10.5 percent to Rs207.26, HGFA fell 7.7 percent to Rs17.73, NPL lost 7.1 percent to Rs68.49, TPLRF1 dropped 5.8 percent to Rs9.99, KTML shed 5.4 percent to Rs51.85, SNGP fell 5.4 percent to Rs112.40, while ABOT declined 5.2 percent to Rs963.50.
Going forward, market participants are expected to closely monitor regional geopolitical developments, movements in international oil prices and upcoming economic indicators for fresh direction.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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