Selling engulfs bourse, KSE-100 down nearly 1,200 points amid stalled Iran-US talks

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) observed volatile trading on Monday, with selling pressure dominating towards the close.

The benchmark KSE-100 index opened on a shaky note, hitting an intra-day low of 169,268.33.

As the session progressed, the index moved in a gradual downward trajectory, with intermittent recoveries. The small rebounds pointed to selective buying or value-hunting, but were consistently overshadowed by broader selling pressure.

In the latter half of the session, the market attempted a mild recovery, even showing a noticeable uptick around mid-afternoon. However, that was followed by a sharp sell-off near the end of the trading session.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 169,497.35, down by 1,174.69 or 0.69%.

“The sentiment remains cautious as investors weigh a weekend of heavy diplomatic and economic news,” said Behtari Capital.

Heavyweight stocks, including UBL, LUCK, OGDC, NBP, and PPL, faced persistent selling pressure, cumulatively weighing down the index by 671 points, Topline Securities said.

In a key development, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased the monetary policy rate by 100 bps to 11.5%.

During the previous week, Pakistan’s stock market remained under pressure, as persistent geopolitical uncertainty surrounding US-Iran ceasefire negotiations, elevated global oil prices, additional IMF-linked policy concerns and domestic energy shortages combined to dampen investor sentiment. The KSE-100 Index was down 3,266.98 points, or 1.9% week-on-week, to close at 170,672.04 points.

Internationally, oil climbed on Monday as stalled ​US-Iran peace talks prolonged disruptions to Middle East energy exports, while renewed excitement about artificial intelligence spending drove up chip stocks at the start of a week when war, central banks and tech earnings are in focus.

Benchmark Brent crude futures rose around 2% to touch a three-week high of $107.97 a barrel in Asian trade, a level that has stoked inflation worries and prompted traders to all but price out rate cuts in developed markets this year.

S&P 500 futures wobbled in the Asia session but tacked ​on small gains of around 0.2% after markets in Taiwan, Tokyo and Seoul followed Wall Street to notch record highs on a new ​wave of AI optimism.

Currency trading was broadly steady, with the euro at $1.1724 and the yen at 159.32 per dollar. Bond ⁠markets were calm ahead of central bank meetings in Japan, the U.S., Britain, Europe, Canada and a smattering of emerging markets.

While a ceasefire has frozen ​most fighting in the war triggered by U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran two months ago, markets are focused on the shuttered Strait of Hormuz, where barely any ​ships carrying oil and gas have transited.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee registered marginal gain, appreciating 0.01% against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Monday. At close, the local currency settled at 278.82, a gain of Rs0.03 against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index decreased to 780.23 million from 1,192.17 million recorded in the previous close.

The value of shares rose to Rs33.42 billion from Rs39.68 billion in the previous session.

B.O.Punjab was the volume leader with 126.62 million shares, followed by Yousuf Weaving with 53.10 million shares, and F. Nat.Equities with 38.85 million shares.

Shares of 483 companies were traded on Monday, of which 217 registered an increase, 229 recorded a fall, and 37 remained unchanged.