Selling pressure at bourse, KSE-100 settles nearly 1% lower

Negative sentiments were observed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) amid uncertainty over the US-Iran talks in Islamabad. The benchmark KSE-100 Index settled with a loss of nearly 1% on Wednesday.

The index showed sharp volatility in the opening hours, with an early spike followed by a steep drop—suggesting aggressive selling pressure.

A partial recovery phase was observed, where the market attempted to regain lost ground and hit an intra-day high of 173,452.66.

However, the market failed to sustain the upward momentum, and it entered a persistent downtrend in the final hours of trading.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 171,579.30, down by 1,576.49 points or 0.91%.

Key index constituents, including UBL, LUCK, PPL, HBL, and OGDC, remained under sustained selling pressure, collectively eroding 762 points from the benchmark, Topline Securities said.

On Tuesday, PSX witnessed a volatile session but managed to close in positive territory amid cautious investor sentiment. The benchmark KSE-100 Index demonstrated strong resilience, gaining 959 points, or 0.56%, to close at 173,155.79 points.

Internationally, US stock futures rose, and the dollar wavered on Wednesday after President Donald Trump said he would indefinitely extend the Iran ceasefire, ​keeping sentiment buoyed, although with the Strait of Hormuz still ‌closed, oil held onto its recent gains.

Trump’s announcement appeared to be unilateral, and it was not immediately clear whether Iran, or US ally Israel, would agree to ​extend the ceasefire, which began two weeks ago.

Markets, though, took ​the news in stride with risk momentum intact. S&P futures ⁠rose 0.5% while Nasdaq futures gained 0.6% in early Asian hours.

MSCI’s ​broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.14% after hitting a ​seven-week high in the previous session. Japan’s Nikkei was down 0.2% as traders consolidated their recent gains.

After a sharp selloff in March due to war in the Middle ​East, markets across the globe have swiftly rebounded this month and ​are back at pre-war levels as the prospect of a peace deal and the ‌ceasefire ⁠have helped risk sentiment.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee registered marginal gain, appreciating 0.01% against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Wednesday. At close, the local currency settled at 278.87, a gain of Re0.03, against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index declined to 1,054.06 million from 1,165.25 million recorded in the previous close.

The value of shares decreased to Rs37.29 billion from Rs54.94 billion in the previous session.

Unity Foods Ltd was the volume leader with 133.36 million shares, followed by Cnergyico PK with 77.18 million shares, and WorldCall Telecom with 56.32 million shares.

Shares of 486 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 141 registered an increase, 303 recorded a fall, and 42 remained unchanged.