Profit-taking grips PSX, KSE-100 sheds over 1,300 points

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed profit-taking on Thursday, as its benchmark KSE-100 Index closed the session down by over 1,300 points, erasing the gain of 650 points the index had made earlier during the day.

Trading kicked off on a positive note with the benchmark index hitting an intra-day high of 151,249.62. However, the market resorted to profit-taking, dragging the KSE-100 Index down to an intra-day low of 148,272.58.

At close, the index settled at 149,235.26, a loss of 1,355.74 points or 0.90%.

Upward momentum in SEARL, OGDC, and SYS collectively added 210 points to the index. However, this was outweighed by notable drag from MEBL, HBL, ENGRO, BAHL, and MCB, which together eroded 636 points from the benchmark, brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.

Sana Tawfik, Head of Research at Arif Habib Limited, said the decline was largely attributable to profit-taking after a recent rally.

Despite the intra-day dip, Tawfik emphasised that overall market sentiment remained positive, supported by the ongoing corporate result season and expectations surrounding a potential circular debt resolution.

Investors are closely monitoring earnings announcements from key listed companies.

Meanwhile, Waqas Ghani, Head of Research at JS Global, said some profit-taking was natural after recent gains.

On Wednesday, the PSX advanced further into record territory, as the KSE-100 Index closed at an all-time high of 150,591.00 points, gaining 820 points or 0.55%.

Globally, Asian stock markets were broadly mixed on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei dropped 0.6% in the morning session, retreating further from the record peak reached on Tuesday.

Despite a tech-led selloff on Wall Street overnight, Japanese chip stocks were a mixed bag, with Advantest up 3% while Tokyo Electron dropped 2%.

South Korea’s KOSPI bounced 0.9% after dipping to a six-week low on Wednesday. Australia’s benchmark gained 0.6% and renewed an all-time high.

Mainland Chinese blue chips gained 0.5%, although Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was largely flat.

US stock futures pointed lower, with Nasdaq futures sagging 0.2% and S&P 500 futures easing 0.1%.

Overnight, the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.7% and the S&P 500 cash index slipped 0.2%.

Traders currently lay odds of about 80% for a quarter-point Fed rate cut on September 17, and price in a total of 52 basis points of easing over the rest of the year.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee recorded its 10th successive gain against the US dollar. At close, the rupee settled at 281.92, a gain of Re0.03.

Volume on the all-share index increased to 1,062.99 million from 667.82 million recorded in the previous close.

The value of shares rose to Rs55.82 billion from Rs40.73 billion in the previous session.

Fauji Foods Ltd was the volume leader with 62.09 million shares, followed by Pak Elektron with 57.23 million shares, and Telecard Limited with 56.94 million shares.

Shares of 480 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 130 registered an increase, 323 recorded a fall, while 27 remained unchanged.