Selling pressure was observed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index ending in the red after broad-based profit-taking on Thursday.
The market opened strong but lost momentum quickly, hitting an intra-day low of 168,548.45. At close, the KSE-100 Index settled at 168,574.69, a decrease of 877.17 points or 0.52%.
In a key development, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) received about $1.2 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).
Moreover, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) improved Pakistan’s growth outlook for both 2025 and 2026, as the prices of key food items have begun to stabilise following a sharp increase in the months immediately after the floods.
On Wednesday, PSX witnessed an active yet directionless trading session, as strong investor participation across multiple sectors contrasted with an almost unchanged finish in the benchmark index. The KSE-100 Index closed with a marginal loss of 4.52 points at 169,451.86.
Globally, stocks wobbled around Asia on Thursday after disappointing earnings at US cloud computing giant Oracle sounded a warning for AI profitability, while bonds were firm and the dollar nursed losses after the Federal Reserve cut US interest rates.
Shares tumbled more than 11% after hours, dragging S&P 500 futures 0.3% lower and Nasdaq 100 futures down about 0.5% in Asia trade.
AI-related stocks were the biggest losers in Tokyo, as Oracle’s profit and revenue outlook missed forecasts and executives flagged higher spending - a sign that infrastructure outlays are not turning into profits as quickly as investors had hoped.
Japan’s Nikkei traded either side of flat in the morning session, with a 5% drop in the AI-exposed SoftBank Group holding back the index.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.8% in early trade to put MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up 0.5%.
Overnight, the Fed lowered its benchmark funds rate, as expected, by 25 basis points to 3.5-3.75%.
But Fed Chair Jerome Powell sounded balanced on the outlook at a news conference, easing market nerves about a hawkish message. Wall Street indexes rallied after the rate cut, and the S&P 500 rose about 0.7%.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee recorded marginal improvement against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Thursday. At close, the local currency settled at 280.36, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index increased to 1,288 million from 1,190 million recorded in the previous close. The value of shares rose to Rs55.23 billion from Rs50.49 billion in the previous session.
Hum Network was the volume leader with 187.98 million shares, followed by Pakgen Power with 180.08 million shares, and TPL Properties with 110.03 million shares.
Shares of 486 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 190 registered an increase, 257 recorded a fall, and 39 remained unchanged.
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