KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed a volatile and bearish session on Monday as investor sentiment remained cautious ahead of the State Bank of Pakistan’s monetary policy announcement.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index settled at 169,497.36 points, losing 1,174.68 points or 0.69 percent from the previous close of 170,672.04 points. The market moved in a broad intraday band, touching a high of 171,306.62 points and a low of 169,268.33 points, reflecting volatility through the session as participants largely avoided aggressive positions before the monetary policy outcome.
BRIndex100 closed at 18,733.81 points, down 179.27 points or 0.95 percent, with traded volume of 613.71 million shares, while BRIndex30 fell 1,431.72 points or 2.07 percent to 67,729.45 points on turnover of 372.25 million shares.
Topline Securities said the benchmark posted a decline in a volatile trading session as sentiment remained cautious ahead of the policy decision, while heavyweight stocks continued facing persistent selling pressure. The brokerage noted the monetary tightening decision after market hours added significance to the day’s defensive positioning.
Selling pressure in index-heavy stocks, pressure from elevated uncertainty and cautious positioning ahead of the central bank decision kept the benchmark in the red, with Topline Securities noting UBL, LUCK, OGDC, NBP and PPL alone shaved 671 points off the benchmark.
Ready market volumes stood at 780.23 million shares against 1.19 billion shares in the previous session, while traded value declined to Rs33.42 billion from Rs39.68 billion. Market capitalization contracted by Rs129.55 billion to Rs18.748 trillion from Rs18.877 trillion, reflecting erosion in investor wealth.
Market breadth remained negative, underlining widespread pressure across the board. In the ready market, 217 companies advanced, 229 declined and 37 remained unchanged out of 483 traded scrips.
Among volume leaders in the ready market, Bank of Punjab topped with 126.62 million shares traded, closing at Rs34.95. It was followed by Yousuf Weaving with 53.10 million shares, ending at Rs8.93, F. Nat. Equities with 38.85 million shares at Rs1.47, TPL Properties with 28.14 million shares at Rs8.18, Unity Foods with 27.89 million shares at Rs12.98.
Among major gainers in the ready market, the Thal Industries Corporation surged Rs81.20 to close at Rs893.24, while Indus Motor Company rose Rs57.67 to settle at Rs2,067.01. On the downside, Unilever Pakistan Foods plunged Rs141.50 to Rs26,256.50, while PIA Holding Company Limited B dropped Rs134.88 to close at Rs17,764.00.
BR Automobile Assembler Index rose 82.51 points or 0.32 percent to 25,689.81 points on turnover of 5.27 million shares. BR Cement Index declined 246.98 points or 2.14 percent to 11,283.39 points with 17.82 million shares traded.
BR Commercial Banks Index shed 412.57 points or 0.71 percent to 57,968.41 points on turnover of 157.75 million shares. BR Power Generation and Distribution Index dropped 152.18 points or 0.53 percent to 28,692.45 points with 61.15 million shares traded.
BR Oil and Gas Index fell 192.28 points or 1.28 percent to 14,851.74 points on turnover of 47.39 million shares, while BR Tech and Communication Index lost 24.47 points or 0.66 percent to 3,661.46 points with 54.79 million shares traded.
Analysts said the market remained hostage to monetary tightening concerns, geopolitical uncertainties and sector-specific pressure, particularly in banking, oil and large-cap cyclicals. Despite some resilience in selective stocks and automobile names, weakness across cement, commercial banks, power and oil sectors indicated broad caution among institutional investors.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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