KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended sharply lower on Tuesday as widespread profit-taking erased strong early gains after investors opted to lock in profits following Monday’s robust rally.
The market opened on a positive note, extending the previous session’s momentum, and the benchmark KSE-100 Index climbed to an intraday high of 178,768.83 points.
However, sentiment weakened significantly during the second half of trading as selling pressure intensified across key sectors, dragging the index to an intraday low of 177,043.10 points before it settled at 177,083.22 points, down 1,116.80 points or 0.63 percent, from the previous close of 178,200.02 points.
Business Recorder (BR) indices also remained under pressure as selling persisted across all major sectors. The BRIndex100 closed at 19,495.97 points, down 152.45 points or 0.78 percent, with total traded volume of 573.72 million shares, reflecting broad weakness in large-cap stocks.
The BRIndex30 settled at 70,027.50 points, declining 847.22 points or 1.20 percent, while companies included in the index generated a cumulative turnover of 316.26 million shares, indicating that selling pressure remained concentrated in actively traded blue-chip stocks.
According to Topline Securities, the market witnessed a highly volatile session as broad-based profit-taking overshadowed the initial optimism. The brokerage house said investors booked gains after the previous day’s strong rally, resulting in selling across major sectors. It added that United Bank Limited (UBL), Lucky Cement (LUCK), Engro Holdings (ENGROH), Oil & Gas Development Company (OGDC), and Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) emerged as the largest drags on the benchmark index, collectively wiping out around 580 points.
The negative trend was reflected across all major PSX benchmark and tracking indices.
Overall trading activity also slowed compared to the previous session. Ready Market turnover fell to 711.27 million shares from 785.36 million shares, while traded value declined to Rs25.87 billion from Rs33.14 billion. Total Ready Market capitalization shrank by Rs120.83 billion, settling at Rs19.833 trillion, compared with Rs19.954 trillion in the previous session.
Market breadth remained firmly in favour of the bears. Of the 495 companies traded on the Ready Market, 161 advanced, 295 declined, and 39 remained unchanged.
Pakistan International Bulk Terminal (PIBTL) emerged as the most actively traded stock on the Ready Market, with 89.71 million shares changing hands.
The stock closed lower at Rs16.74. It was followed by Trust Brokerage, where 86.05 million shares were traded and closed at Rs2.59. TPL Properties ranked third with 67.24 million shares, closing slightly higher at Rs14.94.
Among individual stocks, Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited emerged as the day’s top gainer, rising Rs86.00 to close at Rs25,386.00 per share, followed by Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited, which gained Rs52.70 to settle at Rs9,301.28 per share.
On the downside, Khyber Textile Mills Limited recorded the largest decline, losing Rs116.09 to close at Rs2,041.10, while Hoechst Pakistan Limited shed Rs76.77 to end at Rs3,916.15 per share.
Among sectoral BR indices, the BR Cement Index posted the steepest decline, falling 137.62 points or 1.09 percent to 12,461.54 points on turnover of 19.43 million shares.
The BR Tech & Communication Index slipped 25.12 points or 0.68 percent to 3,680.68 points with 57.40 million shares changing hands.
The BR Commercial Banks Index dropped 292.84 points or 0.47 percent to 62,243.34 points on trading volume of 24.31 million shares, while the BR Automobile Assembler Index lost 112.56 points or 0.47 percent to 23,859.43 points, with turnover of 1.55 million shares.
The BR Oil & Gas Index declined 67.70 points or 0.46 percent to 14,740.37 points, supported by trading volume of 83.35 million shares, whereas the BR Power Generation and Distribution Index eased 98.74 points or 0.35 percent to 27,761.39 points, with 19.02 million shares traded.
Market participants said Tuesday’s decline largely reflected healthy profit-taking after Monday’s sharp rally rather than deterioration in underlying fundamentals. They noted that investors are likely to remain focused on corporate earnings announcements, macroeconomic developments and global geopolitical trends, particularly movements in international oil prices, which are expected to continue shaping near-term market direction.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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